


Chiaroscuro

by Ara



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Dangan Ronpa Zero, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Less Despair, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Mental Instability, Problematic Childhoods™, the fuk did i write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-09
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-08-29 23:47:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 35,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8510431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ara/pseuds/Ara
Summary: Komaeda knew when he saw Hinata that they were similar. And after hearing about his childhood, he was convinced they were both lonely people. They were both searching for someone. They were both sick of what life had to offer. They were both clinging to hope. They were both, both, both, both, both— Then just who did Hinata intend to give that other coffee to?  AU where Komaeda is an artist who controls his luck cycle through his paintings and Hinata is his unlucky model.





	1. Clair

**Author's Note:**

> Chiaroscuro  
> \- A technique of oil painting developed during the Renaissance. It uses the strong contrasts between light and dark tones for a dramatic effect.
> 
> * * *
> 
> All the horizontal bars mean either a time skip or a change in POV. You're all smart, so I'll leave it up to you guys to figure out which is which. The story mostly follows Hinata, so that's a start.

“So I hear there’s a new piece being displayed at your side.”

Hinata looked up from his food to the girl sitting across from him.

“What’s this? That’s rare of you to start a conversation while you’re playing a game.”

The strawberry blonde haired girl pouted. “Fine, I guess I just won’t talk then.”

“Haha, I was just kidding, Nanami!”

“Ah! Hold on, the game won’t let me skip this part, so that means I gotta read the dialogue.”

Hinata let out a chuckle and continued eating his lunch while he waited for Nanami to be free again.

“So?”

“So, what?” Hinata parroted.

“I heard my manager say something like:

‘Ugh, that stupid new painting Kizakura got us is going to end all my hard work’

“—Or something like that.”

Hinata could only laugh lightly in response.

Nanami had a spot-on impression of Tengan Kazuo, one of their museum curators and Nanami’s manager. Nanami had been stroking her invisible beard as she tried impersonating Tengan.

“Have you been hanging out with Ryouta-san and his buddy too much?”

“Mmm...” Nanami made a sound of confirmation. “Did it sound like Tengan-san?”

“Yeah, it was like the real thing. Maybe you’re getting old too?”

“Even if I get old, I can still play video games!” Nanami shot back instantly, making Hinata laugh again.

“I’m glad you’re finally smiling, Hinata-kun.”

“Huh?”

“This whole day, your neutral face has been scarier than usual.”

“Hey, now...”

“It’s true, that’s why I’ve been wondering what could be wrong...”

Hinata could feel his cheeks tinting pink at the thought of someone worrying about him.

“Thanks, Nanami. It’s nothing really...It’s just that new exhibit you were asking about earlier...” Hinata trailed off as he wondered about the best way to describe the situation.

“I heard it was cursed,” Nanami said, once she realised Hinata was stuck thinking of a conversation starter.

Hinata flinched in response.

“A-ah, yeah.” Hinata sighed. “That rumour’s the problem”

Over the past week, it seemed as though only weird occult people came and the press flooded into his wing of the museum every time they got wind of any information- of _any_ abnormality. For God’s sake, they think every small thing was the painting’s fault.

If a light flickered; it was the fucking curse.

“The customers are a little...Difficult,” Hinata finally responded.

Nanami hummed.

“Hmmm... Do you guys need help over there?”

“No. I think I can handle most of the weirdoes camped there.”

Nanami broke out a small smile. “Yeah, you could with a cold scary face like that!”

“Please leave my face out of this.”

* * *

Hinata shuffled through the crowds as he made his way back to his post after he and Nanami finished their lunch.

“—there’s that new exhibit in the modern arts wing, right?”

“—all over the news—”

Hinata let out a long sigh. Thanks to the media he’d have more than the weird occult lovers loitering in his wing of the museum. Apparently it attracted some high school groupies too.

Perhaps normal people would be happy that one piece could attract so much attention to an art museum in this day and age— he knew his manager was definitely happy and probably got a raise for it— but, it didn’t seem right to Hinata. His reasoning was stupid, even in Hinata’s own eyes. His sympathy for this piece was completely irrational. It brought in revenue. That should be all he _should_ care about, being a college intern here. After all, he just needed money. But, Hinata still felt sentimental towards the mysterious painting and the artist behind it.

Before Hinata knew it, he was standing in front of the ‘cursed’ piece.

**_The Silence of Night_ **

_—N. K_ _ō_ _un_

Hinata cracked a smile at that. There were so many ironies in this piece that it was hard not to smile.

First off, the artist went by the name ‘N. _Kōun;_ ’ Kōun as in the word for ‘good luck’ in Japanese. Maybe the N in front of it meant ‘no’ good luck? Hinata couldn’t help letting out a genuine chuckle at that.

_The cursed piece drawn by Good Luck._

As one of the tour guides in this wing of the building, Hinata had to do his research thoroughly. Apparently this was not the only one that was cursed by the same ‘Good Luck’ artist. Every painting that was sold had a tragic back story ranging from house-fires to bankruptcy.

He’d actually heard about the bankruptcy story from an underclassman and acquaintance of his when he was doing research in the campus library. Togami, his underclassman, had invited a ‘fellow’ major competitor in business to an auction. He had baited his competition into buying a landscape painting by N. Kōun. Five months later, the man fell into bankruptcy and off Togami’s potential threats list... When Hinata asked ‘ _Why_ ,’ Togami only shrugged and responded with one word:

_“Experiment”_

Typical Togami. It was pretty cruel, but not underneath the Togamis to use any resources they can get their hands on. Even luck.

Secondly, just looking at the painting, there were a plethora of paradoxical events that contradicted one another. Even though the painting was named ‘ _The Silence of Night_ ,’ there was an orchestra painted in the middle of the canvas with a wide audience surrounding them. Strangely, however, all the people in the painting wore white masks. Happy faces for the audience and sad faces for the playing band. The conductor stood in the middle, tall and proud. He, too, wore an unhappy face, but the unnatural arch of his back and the way he tilted this head back so that his chin was parallel to the ceiling chandelier made the sad faced mask look almost happy.

The most peculiar thing was the lighting. It was a chiaroscuro styled painting. It was a brightly lit ballroom with a large chandelier directly above the orchestra, acting like a spotlight for them. There was nothing peculiar there, of course, but what made it interesting was that the canvas was painted in portrait rather than horizontally landscape-wise, leaving everything above the chandelier to be painted black.

When one views a painting up close, the observer only looks in front of them. So, when the conductor looks up, the viewer also turns their gaze up. In the middle of the black, unlit area above the chandelier, there is a single hand visible— gripping what seems to be the chain of the chandelier suspender. It looked like a woman’s hand with bright, almost pink, red blood straining her fingers as she kept the chandelier in place. It is only then do you think:

_‘Oh, so that’s why they’re frowning’_

They were playing to their impending deaths.

“—think of this piece?”

The sudden question directed towards him jolted Hinata out of his musing.

“Pardon?” Hinata asked as he turned to the man next to him. Hinata studied the man absent mindedly. Said man had the messiest hair he’d ever seen (well, that was a lie and Hinata would rather lie than willingly admit he was acquainted with a certain fortune teller.) Hinata noted that it was white and probably real since he couldn’t see any other coloured roots in his hair. The man also had pale eyes and skin which looked especially unhealthy against his army green jacket which had quite a few paint drops splattered on it and his t-shirt.

Hinata’s immediate thought was:

_‘It’s another weirdo.’_

“Ah! Sorry, you just had such an interesting smile on your face when you were looking at this painting that I was just wondering what you could’ve been thinking of.”

Hinata straightened himself again, having been taken back from the sudden conversation. Was he really making such a strange face? It took only a second for Hinata to return to his reticent behaviour before checking his watch and answering the stranger. He had about ten minutes before his lunch break was over... Hinata decided he had enough time and turned back to the other man.

“I was just thinking the way that the chandelier dangles so precautiously over the orchestra, they might as well be dead, but they aren’t... It’s like life in a way... You’re dead yet you’re not, so you try to play it out the best you can.” Hinata paused and let out a wry laugh. “Maybe the artist should’ve named it ‘Schrödinger’s Chandelier’ instead,” Hinata said jokingly.

The stranger’s eyes widened and turned to look at the painting again.

“That would’ve been a good name...” The stranger answered with a small smile.

Hinata spared him a glance before looking down at his watch again.

“Sorry, I’ve gotta get back to work, have a nice stay,” Hinata said as he waved the stranger goodbye.

As he turned the corner, Hinata thought he heard the stranger asking him to wait up, but Hinata never turned around to check.

If he was late then his pay was going to get docked.

* * *

“Well then, I’m going to leave first.”

“Right. Good work today,” said a co-worker.

“See you tomorrow,” Hinata said as he shut the locker room door. Hinata took out his phone as he began walking down the halls leading outside. He was changing his phone settings from silent to vibrate when he suddenly bumped into something.

That was weird. There should be no pillars in the way if he walked down this path...

Looking up from his phone, he saw that he’d collided with someone’s back. The stranger turned his head around, revealing an equally surprised look. Hinata recognised the messy white hair as the weirdo in the Modern Wing this afternoon.

“What the-? You’re still here?”

Hinata blurted out those words before he knew what he was saying and instantly clamped his mouth shut. He should know better than to use that kind of tone towards customers.

Instead of being offended, the other man only laughed.

“Oh! I’m so glad you remember me!”

The man spoke in a frivolous tone as if they’d known each other for longer than those five minutes in front of a cursed painting. Not skipping a beat, the man continued.

“I was actually hoping to find you again, so it really is good luck that you’ll just so happen to bump into me!”

_This guy was a complete whack job._

“R-right.” Hinata felt himself taken aback by this stranger’s claim. “Well then, shall I direct you towards the information desk? Any further questions you have about our museum can be found there and I believe there are still some audio tours left even if most of our staff guides aren’t available at this time.”

Hinata walked ahead as he told the customer this and looked back occasionally to see if the man was still following him. The nearest information booth was by the main hall so Hinata supposed that meant he’ll be leaving the through the main entrance this time. The main entrance was a lot closer towards the main entrance to the subway station and therefore much more crowded. Hinata would love to avoid that during rush hour, but it couldn’t be helped—

Hinata was stopped short of planning his route home when a hand shot out to grab his own, effectively stopping him in place. Turning around, Hinata put on his best customer service face and smiled. He was about to apologise for walking too fast when—

“Please model for me.”

_‘What the fuck.’_

“What the fuck?”

Those words flew out of Hinata’s mouth before he knew what he was saying again and quickly covered his mouth with his other hand, looking away. Hinata mentally scolded himself for not filtering his words correctly.

The other man seemed unfazed as he answered Hinata’s crude question.

“Sorry, I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Komaeda Nagito. I’m an art student at Hope’s Peak.”

...Right that definitely answered Hinata’s questions...

A semi-loud vibrate echoed through the silent hall and Hinata thanked the stars as he used this excuse to pry his hand out of the stranger’s and dig through his pocket for his phone.

 **Nanami Chiaki –** 5:11 PM

                                We need more milk...

“...I need to go.”

Hinata walked away quickly. He could hear rapid footfalls jogging towards him as the stranger tried catching up to him.

“Ah—! Please wait, Hinata-kun!”

Hinata’s eyes widened in freight and started sprinting now.

“Why do you know _my_ _name_?”

“It was on your nametag!”

Okay. But let’s be real, who looks at them this day and age unless you were some kind, sentimental, old lady or something? And this Komaeda was not old despite his white hair.

“Sec—!”

A hand clamped over his mouth and Hinata thought _‘Ah this is how I’m going to die.’_

“I’m not suspicious.”

Hinata must’ve shot him the dirtiest, most distrusting face ever because Komaeda immediately let go.

“Here! Look,” Komaeda began digging though his pockets. His hand emerged holding a small card. “See? This is my student ID.”

Hinata looked at it. Being a student from Hope’s Peak as well helped him with quickly scanning the card since he knew exactly where to look to know the necessary information.

Komaeda, Nagito

ID# ***045512

Fall 20XX

 

It definitely looked real enough.

“Got it, I’ll tell security to look out for you next time.” Hinata sighed and turned around, wanting to leave already. Just because they were schoolmates, it didn’t mean Hinata wanted to have the weirdo creeping around his wing of the museum again.

“—Ah! What, please consider it!”

“No thanks, I don’t have time between classes and working to pay for my own college fees, anyways.”

“I’ll pay, of course,” Komaeda said as he jogged up so that he was walking side by side with Hinata now. “And I can work with your schedule.”

Hinata didn’t bother running away anymore. He figured this guy was definitely a nut job, sure, but not really dangerous.

“Why me?” Hinata asked as they walked down the stairs of giant building.

“For my end-of-the-year-project, I wanted to paint something hopeful, happy, light...” Komaeda trailed on, even following Hinata as he swiped his metro fare across the card reader.

“I’ve always tried painting something hopeful, but they always seem to turn out looking like despair. I know I shouldn’t complain since it gives me money, but it hurts my pride as an artist, you know.”

They stood on the train platform now as Hinata waited for his train to arrive.

“So—”

“Stop,” Hinata held up his hand as he urged the man to just _please_ stop. Once he was sure Komaeda was done speaking, Hinata put his hand down and began his own rant.

“First of all, that still doesn’t answer my question.” He said, holding up one finger.

“Second of all,” Hinata continued, holding up two fingers this time. “How long do you plan to follow me?

“Thirdly,” Hinata stuck up three fingers. “I refuse.”

If Komaeda really was another student in Hope’s Peak, then Hinata knew the extraordinary fees a student had to pay, even with scholarships. Hinata knew that first hand which was why he had to refuse Komaeda. Hinata intended to keep his scholarship which meant he had no time to model for Komaeda. If Hinata rejected this offer altogether, it would save them both money; Hinata has a higher chance to keep his scholarship and Komaeda wouldn’t have to waste money paying Hinata to model when he’s already paying so much to be in the prestigious academy.

“Besides, don’t you guys have models to work with for free? The academy provides hires them, right?”

“Ah, we do but...” Komaeda mimicked Hinata’s earlier actions and held up a finger.

“One. It has to be you,” Komaeda said with a smile and Hinata wanted to punch him.

_‘That didn’t answer the question.’_

“Two, until you agree... I guess?

“And three, why not?!”

“Shouldn’t you have your own monetary problems? You go to Hope’s Peak Academy, right?” Hinata exploded.

“Oh, please don’t worry about that! I may not look it, but I’m actually living quite well at the moment.”

Hinata gave Komaeda another look. While the taller man’s clothes may look like a mess with all the random paint splattered on this clothes, the clothing did look like it was made of the expensive kind of cloth that Togami wears.

_‘He’s probably just as well off as the Togamis if he could paint in those expensive clothes...’_

Hinata sighed.

“Your first point really isn’t an answer and I would also really not like you to follow me home... Please.” Hinata added the ‘please’ for extra measure. It was the _last_ thing he’ll like, in fact.

Komaeda hummed in thought as the train started approaching the platform and Hinata had to drag him by the hood of his jacket backwards, far behind the safety line just in case the other man falls down from surprise when the train comes. He looked really deep in thought and Hinata wondered just what he could be thinking about. Hinata didn’t wonder for long since the train stopped and opened its doors.

Hinata stepped in without bothering to wait for Komaeda.

 _“Please stand clear of the closing doors.”_ The robotic voice of the computerized announcer rang through the station.

That seemed to snap Komaeda’s attention back to the present as he rushed through the doors quickly. A shame, honestly... Hinata was hoping to shake this guy off with that. Instead, they were closer than before since Komaeda had decided to squish in during rush hour.

“Do you even live on this line?” Hinata asked once the train doors closed. He was holding one hand to Komaeda’s chest as Hinata tried to keep as much of his personal space as possible

“Yes, I have a studio towards this way.”

Komaeda reached over behind Hinata as he grabbed the metal pole to keep his balance; leaving Hinata trapped between the double doors, Komaeda, and the sea of people in the cart.

“Which stop?”

“Jabberwock.”

_‘Ugh, same stop.’_

Hinata never felt so trapped in his entire adult life.

“Hmm, I thought you’ll understand me if I said it had to be you...” Komaeda trailed off.

...

Hinata didn’t respond. What the heck kind of logic as that? Understand? They _just_ met.

“Your expression from this afternoon, I want to paint something like that.” Komaeda smiled down at Hinata who stopped trying to bury his back into the wall behind him.

“My expression? Then you should’ve just taken a picture of it back there. I don’t even remember what my face was like.” Hinata turned away. Just what kind of face was he making? He could recall Komaeda calling it an ‘interesting smile,’ but...

“That wouldn’t do. Drawing from a picture reference isn’t quite the same.”

“Then looks like you’re out of luck. I can’t give you a face I don’t even know about.”

“I don’t think so. I think...” Komaeda closed his eyes as he contemplated his next words. “I think that just your natural self is fine. It gives off an air of serenity that I want to capture.”

Hinata blushed in embarrassment and the humidity in the train didn’t help either.

What the heck? That was _not_ something a person should say casually to another person. Especially not strangers you just met.

“And like I said before, I wish to paint something hopeful and pure, that’s why I’m willing to pay and work with your schedule!”

Pay.

Hinata really could use the extra money.

“How do I know you’re not trying to trick me into something else?” Hinata had no proof that Komaeda was actually a painter. He could be some serial kidnapper and Hinata would’ve never known.

Komaeda let out a chuckle.

“I told you I wasn’t anyone suspicious before, but I guess you still don’t trust me, huh?”

“It’s only been an hour or so since then...”

“I understand.” Komaeda smiled. “But I’m also happy; this means that you’ll consider modelling for me, right?”

“If you can prove to me you’re not someone suspicious. And so far, stalking me hasn’t proven it.”

Komaeda laughed.

“So you normally talk to your stalkers?”

Hinata couldn’t stop grinning back.

“You’re the only one brave enough to respond back.”

“Ah, you finally smiled at me! I thought you were going to give me the cold shoulder forever!”

Hinata coughed to hide his embarrassed face and shifted his face back to neutral again.

“Shame, you’re much more attractive when you smile.” Komaeda said when he saw Hinata put up his walls again.

“I hope flirting isn’t your idea of making me less suspicious of you.”

“Oh. Is it working, though?”

“Haha, well then, would you like to work the first week in an art room in Hope’s Peak?”

Hinata thought about it. The first week on familiar grounds was a good idea.

“They have good security around my campus. I heard the head of security was a national boxing champion!” Komaeda continued to ramble on when he noticed Hinata ruminating on the idea. Komaeda thought Hinata was still hung up on safety and decided to go on with that route.

“Uhm, of course, they don’t let just anyone in, so you’ll be alright. I’ll request a pass to be given to you, so—”

“That won’t be necessary,” Hinata cut him off. “I go to Hope’s Peak, too.”

Komaeda blinked owlishly before beaming.

“This is great!” Komaeda exclaimed. “How fortunate that we both attend the same school!”

_“This is Jabberwock Plaza. The next stop is—”_

* * *

 “Ah! It looks like I’ve lost track of the stops, I need to get off here...”

Komaeda had a troubled look on his face as he wondered what to do.

Should he stay in the train until it was Hinata’s stop so he could get Hinata’s contact info? No he was sure Hinata would just decline his request then.

Try looking for him on campus? No, there were so many entrances, Komaeda could miss him... Though he could leave it up to luck... No, relying on his luck for this was a bad idea. There weren’t enough odds against him to have a 100% chance success rate.

Maybe be he should just find Hinata at the museum again? But, he didn’t know Hinata’s schedule.

A loud ‘ _ding_ ’ reverberated in his ears as Komaeda realised he was out of time. The doors were opening and Komaeda had no idea which option to go with.

Komaeda was so lost in thought that he only snapped out of it when he felt Hinata gently nudge his hand off the balancing pole.

Quickly deciding to go with the first option— but only for one stop so Hinata wouldn’t question him— Komaeda turned to look at Hinata, only to see him standing on both the train and the platform.

Hinata had one foot on the platform and his other foot was lodged between the train doors, effectively stopping the automatic doors from closing.

“Come on, this is our stop.” Hinata said as he dragged Komaeda out of the cart.

_‘Our stop.’_

Komaeda’s face brightened up again as he realised his luck had helped him out again.

“This really is fortunate!”

* * *

Hinata sighed as he let go of Komaeda’s hand.

“I was really worried there for a second, you know? I finally got you to agree, but I didn’t even get your contact info.”

“That wasn’t ‘a second.’ You froze for like a minute.”

“Haha, no way. The train conductor didn’t even have to use the intercom to tell you to remove your foot!”

“Ha, ha.” Hinata laughed along sarcastically.

Walking out the station, Hinata could feel a slight chill as he emerged above ground again. Hinata shoved his hands into his coat pockets, revelling in the warmth before fishing out his phone. He unlocked the device to see the time and noticed the missed call as well.

                Missed Call

                                Nanami Chiaki - 6:01 PM

“Oh! Perfect, may I have your number, Hinata-kun?”

“Ah... Yeah, sure. Do you mind if I just call back a friend first?”

“That’s fine. Which way are you going?”

Hinata pointed a finger towards the Rocketpunch Market before looking down as he scrolled down for Nanami’s name in the contact’s list. “I need to buy milk...” The last part was just a mumble to remind himself, but Komaeda heard it.

“Oh, I understand,” Komaeda replied as he started walking next to Hinata. Meanwhile, Hinata waited for Nanami to pick up.

... No answer.

It was only then that Hinata realised Nanami had left him another text.

 **Nanami Chiaki –** 6:01 PM

                                Staying over at Chihiro’s to finish some coding.

“I assume that means you’re free tonight?” Komaeda asked as he peered down at Hinata’s phone.

“Don’t just look at other people’s phones like that.”

The taller one only laughed and brushed it off.

“Do you want have dinner with me, then?”

“No.”

“My treat?”

“No, thanks,” Hinata said as he briskly walked through the automatic doors of the Rocketpunch Market. If he looked back, he would’ve seen Komaeda’s crushed look before the man quickly went back to his happy persona.

Hinata stood at the dairy section as he tried to find a milk carton with an expiration date furthest from the current date.

While Hinata was preoccupied, Komaeda decided to surprise the brunet by grabbing his wrist and leading them to the food court.

“What are you doing?” Hinata asked as he power walked as fast as he could to keep up with the other.

Once Hinata was out of Komaeda’s vice grip, Hinata turned his head to yell at Komaeda.

“What—”

“Meal set A, please. And just water for the drink.” Komaeda turned to Hinata. “What would you like, Hinata-kun?”

“Nothing,” Hinata was about to go but a hand enclosed around his wrist again, stopping him in his tracks.

“And one set B, with orange juice.”

The cashier repeated his order and Komaeda quickly paid before Hinata could say ‘no’. Hinata sighed. He supposed there was no harm in eating with the white haired male. Might as well start getting to know his employer now.

“I’ll stay...For the orange juice.”

Komaeda laughed.

“I’m glad you like orange juice that much.” The cashier handed Komaeda the receipt along with the calling buzzer. “Where do you want to sit?”

Hinata looked around. The place was fairly busy, with it being a Friday night and whatnot. Looking up, Hinata could see a few seats available by the indoor balcony in the loft-like area.

“I think those are the only seats available right now,” Hinata pointed up so Komaeda could see where he was talking about.

“Oh, good eye! Let’s go, Hinata-kun.”

Hinata didn’t feel like giving a verbal response so he just gave him a hum in affirmation.

They sat upstairs as the waited for their buzzer to call them. Hinata rested his head on his hands as he stared down at the people rushing by. Komaeda was the one to break the silence.

“I don’t want to forget later, so, if you don’t mind; can I get your number?”

“Ah,” Hinata had forgotten about that. “Sure.” Hinata waited for Komaeda to be ready on his phone and told him his number. A second later, his phone buzzed and Hinata unlocked his own phone.

“There, that’s my number if you need to contact me,” Komaeda said and Hinata nodded back.

“So, which department are you in at Hope’s Peak?”

“Science, bio-med.”

Komaeda whistled. “That’s impressive!”

Hinata frowned. “Not really.” To be honest, Hinata didn’t even know if he wanted to be a doctor. His parents had pushed him into it for so long that he just thought it was natural. In the end, it just seemed like a waste of effort on his part if he didn’t become something in the science field.

Before Hinata could space out again, their buzzer buzzed, indicating that the booth they ordered from had their food ready.

“I’ll go get our food,” Komaeda volunteered before Hinata could say anything and jogged down the stairs.

Hinata looked down to the ground floor again. He could see Komaeda’s green jacket and white hair as he moved through the crowds. Once he reached the booth, Komaeda exchanged the buzzer for the food tray. He swiftly turned around, intent on running back upstairs with their food- maybe too quickly- as he nimbly just avoided collision with another person causing the drinks to wobble which forced Komaeda to stand still for a second to steady the tray.

Hinata laughed out loud at the scene. Almost as if sensing someone was staring at him, Komaeda looked up and stared back at Hinata before smiling at him. Hinata turned away once he saw Komaeda disappear towards the direction of the stairs.

Hinata definitely wasn’t blushing.

* * *

 

That night, Hinata only realised he forgot the milk once he opened the fridge.

 

* * *

**Komaeda Nagito**

10:35 PM

This is Hinata-kun, right?

Yes.

Will you be free Monday afternoon?

For the job?

Yeah, I can come during my usual lunch hour.

Please use that hour to actually eat!

                                ✔read 10:37 PM

10:40 PM

It’s unethical for me to starve my models as well...

If you don’t want me during my lunch hour, when do you want me?

Wow, that was really suggestive, coming from you Hinata-kun!

                                ✔read 10:45 PM

10:55 PM

Hinata-kun, please talk to me.

How long would you like me to stay per day?

1-2 hours on the rough sketch on the first day is fine.

I’ll be free after 5 then.

Perfect!

My classes end at 4 on Mondays so I have time to set up the room.

Okay. Room?

I’ll have to see which rooms are open on Monday

But it’ll definitely be in the Fine Arts building.

Alright. Text me the room number when you get it.

Of course!

* * *

3:50 PM

I got the room!

3E07

 

Hinata looked away from the chemicals in front of him for a second when he felt his phone vibrate. Once he read Komaeda’s message, Hinata quickly texted back a ‘K’ and turned back to the lab at hand.

Looking over to where his lab partner was, Hinata’s eyes widened and shot his hands out.

“Wait!” Hinata yelled at his lab partner. In the hands of Matsuda Yasuke was a bottle of iron powder, not potassium.

“I don’t think we need this,” Hinata said as he pried the bottle out of the other’s hand.

“Oh, so you _were_ paying attention.” Matsuda said as he went back to the cabinet to grab the right bottle.

Hinata frowned.

“What do you mean by that?” If anything, it should be Hinata saying that to the other man across the table. _He’s_ the one who’s always reading manga during the lectures. It’s a wonder how he passes.

“You’ve been checking your watch this whole time. And the moment your phone makes a noise, you pick it up. You got somewhere to be after this?”

Hinata smirked. “What? Are you thinking of switching to a psychology major?” Hinata teased.

“Ugh, nah. I’m fine with it being my minor already.”

“They’re training you well if you’re unconsciously analyzing people’s movements like that.” Hinata replied as he put on his safety goggles and turned on the Bunsen burner.

“So? What’s been on your mind?”

Hinata made sure everything was in place and set the timer before answering Matsuda.

“One of the art students asked me to model for him.”

Matsuda raised an eyebrow at him. “No offense, but you don’t look like the type to accept something like that. Not to mention for another guy.”

Hinata rolled his eyes. “Well, you’re right, Mr. Psychologist.”

Matsuda growled at that comment.

“I’m a neurologist. _Big_ difference.”

“Right.”

“So then, why?” Matsuda asked again, definitely curious now.

“He said he’ll pay me.”

It was silent between them for a while before the timer went off and Hinata moved to turn off the fire.

“Pass me the clipboard.” Hinata said as he held his hand out to Matsuda. His lab partner passed him the clipboard before hesitantly asking his next question.

“So... He’s paying you to... Strip?”

Hinata dropped the board.

“Ah.” Matsuda said as the clipboard fell. “So he didn’t know,” he muttered under his breath.

Hinata was still shell shocked as he picked up the board.

They continued the lab in silence.

* * *

Hinata stood in front of 3E07 as he played the conversation he had in the lab over in his head.

Did he have to strip? Was this what the deal was?

Matsuda wasn’t wrong. That _was_ what art models did. Hinata wasn’t allowed to think anything further than that because the door in front of him suddenly opened to reveal an equally surprised Komaeda.

“There you are, Hinata-kun!” Komaeda smiled at him and stepped back, giving room for the shorter male to go in the room. “I was wondering if you got lost or something.”

“Cleaning up the lab took a while,” Hinata lied.

Walking into the room, Hinata could smell the strong scent of oil paints and sculpting clay. Near the centre of the room was a large wooden... Statue? Totem pole? It dominated the room’s presence.

“... I thought you were a painter.”

“Oh, I am,” Komaeda said as he brought a stool to the window and in front of a canvas board. “I borrowed this room from a classmate willing to share. I usually work in my studio by Jabberwock Plaza so I never requested a room here on campus, you see...”

Hinata wasn’t really listening as he made his way towards the stool by the window. Was this the part where he stripped? Hinata’s fingers were shaking as he reached for his tie and loosened it.

“You can sit any way you feel comfortable— Hinata-kun, what are you doing?” Komaeda’s cheeks were pink as he watched Hinata pause in undoing his tie.

“U-uhm, art models are usually naked, right?” Hinata could feel his own cheeks tinting red as he verbally explained his actions to the other male in the room.

“Yes, but I wasn’t going to ask you to strip on your first day— unless you wanted to do that for me, then...”

“Oh.” Hinata’s face turned even brighter as he readjusted his tie. He let out a breath of relief and looked back at Komaeda. “Thanks.”

Komaeda laughed back nervously. “It’ll also be bad if someone was to walk in and think something indecent was happening here.”

Hinata faked a cough to redirect the conversation.

“So, you just want me to sit on this stool?”

“Wherever you feel comfortable.”

“In that case...” Hinata decided to settle on the floor next to the stool. He had enough of sitting on stools after sitting on one for almost two hours in the lab room. Hinata raised his right leg up and propped his right elbow on the seat of the stool. His right hand rested on the raised knee. Feeling comfortable, Hinata curled up and placed his chin on his right hand as he laid his head sideways on the bend of his arm. “Is this fine?”

“Yes. Could you stay like that for a while?”

Hinata couldn’t see Komaeda’s face from this angle, but Komaeda didn’t sound like he was lying, so Hinata stayed in this position. Hinata nodded as his thoughts began to drift. He was glad he didn’t really need to strip. But then, thinking back, hadn’t Komaeda say something about not stripping only on the first day? Did that mean he had to get naked on the next session? But Komaeda also said it was a bad idea to model naked in the classroom, right? So that meant he could keep his clothes on? Hinata smiled unconsciously at that thought.

_‘He’s a good person.’_

Two hours passed as Hinata stayed in that position and thought about nothing in particular. It was quiet except for the light scratches of lead on the canvas as Komaeda sketched his form.

“Hinata-kun, let’s stop for now,” Komaeda said as he put down his pencil and lifted his canvas off the easel.

“Ah, right.” Looking at his watch, Hinata could see that it was just a little over seven o’clock. Hinata sat up straight and could feel his stiff shoulders pop at the sudden movement. He let out a groan as he stretched his arms above his head. He was _not_ used sitting so still for almost two hours straight. Getting up, Hinata realised he couldn’t. Hinata could feel the familiar pins and needles feeling that muscles got when they were under pressure for too long.

“Is something wrong?” Komaeda asked once he saw that Hinata was still sitting down.

“Ah, it’s nothing, just a bit of paresthesia.” Hinata replied as he tried to look calm while he willed his legs to move. He moved them slowly as the prickly feeling intensified.

Komaeda laughed at Hinata’s antics and decided to offer Hinata a hand up.

Hinata accepted it gratefully and Komaeda pulled him up. Hinata was shocked by the albino’s apparent strength as he was pulled up. The sudden movement and Hinata’s lack of control over his own legs left them tumbling for balance as Komaeda shifted his arms around Hinata to steady them both. It worked for a second before Hinata fell, dragging Komaeda along with him. Komaeda fell backwards as he tried to cushion Hinata’s fall. They fell with a thud and their legs were a tangled mess.

“Hinata-kun, are you okay?” Komaeda asked as he sat his upper body up.

“Y-yeah...” Hinata responded as he propped himself up by his arms.

Hinata was massaging his temple when he suddenly felt two hands cupping his face, forcing him to look directly at Komaeda’s eyes. Komaeda stared intently into Hinata’s eyes as he moved in closer.

Hinata’s face reddened as he lifted his hand up to move Komaeda’s face back. Once there was a considerable amount of space between them, Hinata asked, “What?”

“Ah, sorry.” Komaeda laughed hesitantly. “Hinata-kun, are you wearing only one contact?”

Hinata visibly flinched as his left hand instinctively shot up to cover his left eye. Hinata was unable to lie about it now after those movements so he opted to avert his eyes from Komaeda’s intense stare.

“It’s a coloured contact, isn’t it?” Komaeda asked to break the awkward silence.

“Ye-Yeah.”

Komaeda could sense Hinata’s discomfort and smiled, deciding to drop the subject for now.

“I hope you’ll let me see your real eye colour one day.”

Komaeda got up and offered his hand to Hinata again. Hinata took it but didn’t say anything in return as he got up slowly to not put any sudden strain on his muscles.

Once Hinata successfully got up, Komaeda didn’t let go of his hand yet. Instead, Hinata could feel something pressed into his hand before Komaeda turned around to finish putting away the supplies.

Opening up the palm of his hand, Hinata saw that it was a fifty dollar note. Hinata’s eyes widened like saucers once it registered in his brain that he was just paid 25 dollars per hour for just one sitting.

Wasn’t this too much? He barely felt like he did anything.

“Komaeda-san, isn’t this too much?”

Komaeda laughed and ignored the question.

“While I’m glad you’re finally saying my name, you don’t need to use an honorific. ‘Nagito’ is fine.”

“‘Komaeda,’ then.” Hinata said. He didn’t even call Nanami by her first name, and she was his best friend and roommate.

“I’ll take what I can,” the albino said to no one in particular.

“Anyways,” Hinata started. He didn’t appreciate that his question was being ignored. “Isn’t this too much? I’m not even a professional model or anything.”

“Really? I don’t think it’s too much if it means you’ll stay.”

Hinata rolled his eyes.

“You clearly have money to throw.”

Komaeda laughed. “Only at things that are worth it.”

Hinata couldn’t resist blushing. “That was too smooth.”

Hinata could hear Komaeda laughing harder behind him as he grabbed his bag and checked his phone for any missed messages. Happily finding none, he shoved his phone back into his bag.

“Would you like to get dinner with me again? I believe the cafeteria is still opened at this hour.”

Hinata thought about it for a second before ultimately agreeing.

“Sure, only if you let me treat you this time.”

“Haha, you really don’t have to—”

“That’s my condition or we’re not eating dinner together.”

That seemed to shut Komaeda up as they silently made their way out of the room.

Hinata stood at the opposite side of the wall as he watched Komaeda lock up. Komaeda was just about done when Hinata felt his phone vibrating. It rang more than once, indicating it was a call. Hinata huffed and dug through his bag, instantly taking out his phone and answering it without looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?” Hinata asked in a tired tone.

“Hinata!” The other person on the line sounded frantic as his name was screamed out loud. Hinata had to take the phone off his ear at the first syllable of his name.

“Matsuda-san?” Hinata asked, clearly unsure if it was the same rude, but calm lab partner. Checking his phone briefly, Hinata deduced that it was. “What’s wrong?”

“Are you still at school right now?”

“Yes?” Hinata didn’t like where this conversation was going.

“Great, meet me back at the lab in fifteen minutes. I’m leaving my dorm now.”

“Wha—Wait, why?” Hinata could feel a migraine coming as he motioned for Komaeda to start walking out with him. If he _did need_ to go back into the lab room again tonight, then he better grab his food now. And a large cup of coffee.

“I think we used the wrong formula.”

“What do you mean _‘the wrong formula’_?! That equation was the _basis_ of —” Great, now he was screaming at his phone too.

“I was comparing our results with Seiko, and it was completely different.”

Hinata let out a long sigh. “Give me a sec.” Hinata told Matsuda as he covered the mouthpiece of his phone and turned to Komaeda.

“Sorry, this might take a while. Could you wait for me at the caf? I’ll call you when I get there so we can find each other again, so...” Hinata gave Komaeda an apologetic smile.

“Got it. Good luck, don’t keep me waiting,” Komaeda responded jokingly as he waved goodbye and walked ahead.

Hinata watched Komaeda walk a few steps before bringing his phone back to his ear.

“Alright, how different was it?”

“All of it.”

Hinata was silent for a while as he processed that information.

“Well, what if Kimura-san got it wrong?” Unlikely, but Hinata was _really_ tired and was ready to grasp at any straws.

“ _Hinata._ Listen to yourself.”

“I know, I know! She’s always right, but maybe just this time—”

“ _Hinata._ ”

“Did you forget that Andou-san was her partner?”

“Ruruka doesn’t touch the labs, you _know_ that.”

Hinata groaned. “Whatever, I’ll just take the B or the C this time. I’m too tired.”

“ _You_ can, I can’t. The professor’s already mad that I don’t pay attention in his lectures. If I get anything below an A, I’ll never hear the end of it. He’ll rub it in my face for as long as the rest of the semester.”

“So, it’s just about your pride, then?”

“Yeah. Yo, where are you? I’m almost there.”

Hinata sighed audibly. “Can you start it first? I’m going to eat something in the cafeteria first.”

“Yeah, sure. Grab me a coffee before you leave, will you?”

“Fine, see you later.”

“See you,” Matsuda replied just as Hinata ended the call.

When Hinata walked out of the building, Hinata was surprised to be greeted by Komaeda who leaned against the building, just next to the double doors.

“Ah! Hinata-kun, how did the call go?”

“Komaeda!” Hinata chided. “I thought I asked you to wait in the cafeteria. Isn’t it cold? At least wait inside...”

“Haha, I stayed out here just in case you’d see me first and run off.”

“Why would I run?”

“Well, your call seemed pretty important, so I decided to surprise you here so you couldn’t back out of our dinner date.”

“Oh, really? How considerate of you to cut off my escape plan.” Hinata rolled his eyes. “Also, what date?”

“The one I’m not letting you ditch.” Komaeda smiled and reached behind Hinata, laying a hand on the small of his back to push the brunet towards the food area.

Hinata only crossed his arms. “I’m not so insane to choose redoing a lab over food.”

“Good,” Komaeda beamed, making Hinata avert his eyes.

“I won’t be able to stay for long, though. I need to get back to the lab soon.” Hinata said as he brushed Komaeda’s hand off.

“I understand. Let’s hurry then, it’ll be bad if you worked too late.”

“Ugh.” Hinata groaned. He had half a mind to leave Matsuda on his own, truth be told. But, he felt like he couldn’t make his partner do the whole thing on his own. It was both their grades, after all. “Let’s just go, I’m hungry.”

* * *

Hinata admittedly felt much more comfortable eating with Komaeda tonight, than the first time. Hinata learned that Komaeda got into the arts at a very young age when his parents let him join an art class and when they passed away, it became a necessity for him to keep painting... Hinata decided not to press on about that subject since it seemed a little touchy even though Komaeda looked fine, as though he was talking about something completely normal.

Komaeda also mentioned that he recently started living on his own, now that he was finally an adult in the law’s eyes and was legally able to inherit his family’s fortune. While he appreciated the orphanage and all they’ve done for him, he never felt any attachments to the staff or the other kids. They were apparently ‘too different.’

...

Understandably, Komaeda didn’t let Hinata be the only one to ask questions and so he asked Hinata his own questions as well. They were pretty normal questions.

Did he always live at Jabberwock?

Was he an only child?

When Komaeda asked about how he got into medicine, Hinata hesitated for a bit. Komaeda had told him so many personal things that Hinata felt almost obligated to answer the other one truthfully.

“My parents are doctors. When I was a child, they often brought me to the hospital they worked at.”

“Ah, so it was like one of those ‘bring-your-kid-to-work’ days?”

“No, they never participated in any of those school events.” Or any school events. But, Hinata decided to leave that out. “They only brought me to the hospital during school holidays.”

Normal families would have at least one or two fun family vacations planned, but his parents weren’t like that.

“But whenever they brought me to the hospital, they never talked to me either.” Hinata looked towards the distance as he thought about his relationship with his parents. While they weren’t dead, they certainly weren’t there either. It’s been this way for so long that it almost seemed normal to him until he remembered all the stories he heard from other children about their parents when growing up.

“What did you do at the hospital, then?” Komaeda asked when he saw that Hinata had grown silent.

Snapping back to reality, Hinata faced Komaeda and answered him.

“There wasn’t much. They’ll tell me to wait in a room full of books so I’ll just read until they came back.

“The hospital was pretty large, so they had their own library for the patients who couldn’t go outside. The room they left me in was an extension of that library. It was basically a small archive of medicinal books.”

“So, your interest stems back to when you were a child!” Komaeda sounded like he heard something interesting, but Hinata felt unsettled.

Did he really have an interest in the field? He was brought to the hospital since it was against the law to leave a small child unattended at home. So, his parents brought him there up until he reached the seventh grade. By then, though, he had gone to the hospital on his own without the help of his parents. But, did he go there because he was genuinely interested in what the hospital library had to offer him or did he just want to feel closer to his parents?

Hinata forgot that thought as soon as it entered his brain because there was a sudden vibrate coming from his phone. Picking it up, he realised it was close to eight o’clock already.

“Shit, I should get back to the lab.” On his screen was a message from Matsuda telling him to hurry his ass over.

“Oh! Of course, I apologise for keeping you.” Komaeda said as he rose up with his tray along with Hinata.

“Not really.” They dumped the contents of their tray quickly and hurried towards the exit. “Ah... right.” Coffee.

“Hinata-kun?” Komaeda looked confused as he followed Hinata back into the cafeteria. Komaeda didn’t get a direct answer from Hinata as the brunet was already talking to the coffee barista.

“Two coffees, large. One American and the other black.”

Hinata looked over at Komaeda, surprise painted over his face when he saw that the other man was still with him.

“Sorry,” Hinata said. “You didn’t have to follow me back; we’re going separate ways after this anyways.”

“It wouldn’t be right to just leave, though.”

Hinata flashed a genuine smile towards Komaeda before responding.

“Thanks for having dinner with me. It wasn’t something I ever got to do with my parents or friends, so... Thanks for giving me this experience, I guess. It was nice.”

Komaeda held a hand over the bottom half of his face as he tried to hide his obvious blush. “Likewise,” Komaeda responded. His voice was slightly muffled by his hand.

Hinata smiled and turned back to the barista as he approached with the drinks. Hinata paid and turned back to Komaeda.

“I’m done here. You should get going, too.”

“I’ll walk you to the Science building.”

Hinata chuckled. “It’s alright. It’ll get colder in the evening, so you should get going, too.” Hinata said as they walked towards the exit. Hinata’s phone buzzed again and Hinata groaned for the n-th time that day. He could take a good guess as to who that was.

“Crap, he’s definitely going to yell at me,” Hinata muttered under his breath before turning to Komaeda. “Sorry, I’m going to run ahead. Could you text me later about the next time you’ll need me?”

“Eh? Yeah...” Komaeda waved slowly to Hinata’s rapidly retreating figure as the brunet ran for the Science building.

* * *

  _‘_ _Who was that other coffee for?’_

Komaeda directed his gaze towards the single lit room in the Science building.

 

* * *

Hinata woke up with a jolt when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Good, you’re up.”

Turning around, he saw that it was just Matsuda.

_‘Shit, did I fall asleep?’_

“How long have I been out?”

“Not too long. We finished around five, I went to grab us coffee and came back to see you sleeping, so I guess no more than forty minutes or so?”

Hinata scratched the back of his head.

“So, it’s almost six now?”

“5:48” Matsuda passed Hinata a cup of store bought coffee which Hinata gratefully accepted.

“Ugh. Is this black coffee?” Hinata made a disgusted face once the contents entered his mouth.

“Yeah. Wakes you up.” Matsuda calmly sipped on his own cup and threw Hinata some sugar packets and small Half & Half creamers.

“Oh. Thanks.” Hinata quickly opened the lid of the cup and dumped the packet contents inside. The brunet tasted the new beverage and sighed happily at the new taste— Not perfect, but better than the abomination before.

“If it turns out that Kimura-san _was_ wrong and we _were_ right the first time, you’re going to owe me a lot more than just coffee.”

Matsuda scoffed. “Sure, I’ll introduce you to a therapist so you can rant about it.”

Hinata was about to retort back when his phone vibrated.

-

**Komaeda Nagito**

6:00 AM

Will you be free today?

Sorry, I have work ‘til the evening.

-

Hinata responded immediately and put his phone back down on the ceramic counter top. Hinata reached for his coffee again to take another sip when—

“Holy shit.”

Hinata jumped at the loud sound his phone made when it vibrated loudly in long dashes on the countertop; barely catching himself before spilling his coffee onto Matsuda’s bag.

“Hey! Watch it,” Matsuda quickly made his way over to his bag and moved it safely away from Hinata’s coffee.

“Doubt there’s anything other than manga in there, anyways.” Hinata put down his coffee to answer his phone.

“Hello?” Hinata spoke into the phone and ignored Matsuda’s comments in the background.

“Hinata-kun, I’m surprised you’re up so early!” Komaeda sounded cheerful on the other side of the line and not at all like a normal person at six in the morning.

“I could say the same to you...”

The other voice on the call laughed. “I didn’t sleep. I was going over the sketches from last night...”

“I see. Well—”

Hinata was cut off by Matsuda who yelled loud enough for his phone to pick up the noise.

“Hajime, come back to bed!”

Hinata whipped his head around and yelled back.

“Matsu— What the _hell?_ ”

Matsuda used this moment to steal Hinata’s phone.

“Sorry, he’ll call back later.” Matsuda said as he ended the call and gave the phone back to Hinata.

The brunet was about to open his mouth when Matsuda interrupted him.

“We gotta clean up.” The raven haired male jerked a thumb behind him and Hinata followed its direction to find an old man standing behind Matsuda.

“Ah! Sorry, we’ll clean up now.”

“Take your time; my early students won’t be here for another thirty minutes.” The professor smiled at them and settled on the teacher’s desk.

Hinata turned back to Matsuda with a scowl on his face.

“Did you have to say something like that, though?”

Matsuda shrugged. “Quick, easy and simple.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Give me your phone, then.” Hinata held out his hand as he asked for the device.

“What? Why?”

“Quick, easy and simple, right? I’ll help you finally break up with Otonashi-san.”

“What? No way—”

But, it was too late. The brunet had already snatched the phone out of Matsuda’s hands. Hinata tapped a few random numbers into the locked phone. His birthday? Student number? Dorm code?

“Dammit!” Hinata let out a frustrated noise when the phone locked him out for ten minutes.

“ _Hah!”_   Matsuda stood over Hinata with a smug grin.

Hinata huffed and tossed the phone back to its owner.

“Your phone’s passcode is probably one of the reasons your girlfriend is obsessed with doubting you.”

Matsuda decided to ignore that and began putting back all the equipment. Hinata soon followed suit.

* * *

Hinata sat in the lounge as he waited for his first class to start. He had about another two hours before then. Sighing, Hinata scrolled down on his phone, looking for Komaeda’s contact. He had no idea what to say, though.

_Sorry, my lab partner’s an idiot?_

Hinata waited for the other to pick up. Turns out, Hinata didn’t have to wait long since Komaeda picked up at the first tone.

“Hinata-kun!”

“Hi...” Hinata was somewhat taken back from the urgency he could hear from the other boy.

“Are you okay? Before—”

“Uhm. Yeah. My lag partner’s an idiot.” Hinata cut the albino off, fully knowing what he wanted to ask. Hinata pinched the bridge of his nose as he briefly explained it to Komaeda over the phone.

“...I see.”

“Anyways, what did you want to talk about?” Hinata asked, glad that he didn’t have to talk about that incident anymore.

“Could we talk about it over breakfast? I’m driving right now, and it’ll be a little distracting...” Komaeda’s nervous laugh could be heard through the phone.

“Oh, sorry. Text me when you’re here then.” Hinata frowned. Shouldn’t Komaeda have hung up earlier then? Komaeda made a small noise of confirmation and Hinata hung up after hearing that.

Rubbing his eye, Hinata realised he had taken a nap with the contact lens on. The brunet decided to head to the bathroom before it started irritating his eye.

* * *

Hianta stared back at his reflection.

Hideous. Abnormal. Gross.

Those were just some of the adjectives that were used to describe his red eye in the past. Hinata could faintly remember his parents discussing it behind closed doors.

Hinata splashed cold water onto his face as he tried forgetting about it.

_Forget about it._

It wasn’t a problem now that he wore contacts. He started wearing them when he started attending a high school away from his neighbourhood. The effects were almost magical as the people there accepted him immediately. No one looked twice at him and no one was afraid of him.

His phone buzzed and Hinata looked down to see a text from Komaeda who stated his arrival.

 **Komaeda Nagito –** 7:30 AM

                                I’ll be waiting at the North end of the cafeteria. I got you some toast and orange juice, you should come while it’s still warm.

_‘Ah, that’s right. I haven’t eaten yet.’_

Hinata only had a cup of coffee, and while that could sustain his hunger for an hour or two, it wouldn’t do in the long run. Hinata adjusted his bag and quickly made his way to the cafeteria.

* * *

The cafeteria was still pretty empty at this time so Hinata was able to locate Komaeda easily. The albino chose a table by the windows with four seats, two on each side. Hinata set his bag on the seat next to him, just as Komaeda had across from him and sat down on the seat next to his bag.

Komaeda smiled when he noticed Hinata settling on the seat across from him and pushed the tray with the toast and orange juice towards the other.

“Good morning— Hinata-kun...”

Komaeda’s voice trailed off as the paler man stared at Hinata with a shocked expression.

“Good morning.” Hinata answered as he took the piece of toast to his mouth. He had a bite before he realised Komaeda was still staring at him.

“What is it?” Hinata asked as he put down his toast.

The question seemed to shock Komaeda out of his stupor and the pale man smiled back at Hinata.

“I don’t see any hickeys on you; he must not have been very intense.”

“...What the hell?” Hinata blushed at the suggestive comment. “I already told you it was a prank.”

Komaeda only chuckled in response and took a bite of his bagel.

“Do you have any morning classes today?” Komaeda asked.

“Yeah, two of them. Then, I gotta start heading to the museum at noon.”

“Hmm...” Komaeda thought about it for a while. “Then you don’t even have time in between.”

Hinata shook his head sideways as a response.

“This is a problem, I need to fix a lot of the shading and finer details in the sketches.”

“Ah...”

“When do you get off work today?”

“That would be...” Hinata trailed off as he reached for his phone to check his schedule. Before he unlocked his phone, though, Hinata saw his reflection on the unlit screen. It wasn’t too obvious on the phone’s black screen, but one of his eyes were visibly lighter than his other one. Hinata shot up, placing one shaky hand over his crimson orb.

“S-Sorry, I think I left something in the bathroom... I’ll be right back.” Hinata darted out of the cafeteria and retraced his steps back to the bathroom he was just in.

‘ _It’s fine if Komaeda knew._ ’ Hinata thought as he made his way into the bathroom. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that his lens was still on the sink counter and safely in its box. Hinata opened the box and put on the contact, adjusting it in the mirror.

‘ _Komaeda’s just a stranger. I won’t see him again after this..._ ’

That’s right. It didn’t matter.

Hinata flinched when he heard the door click open and Hinata could see through the mirror that it was Komaeda who came in.

“Oh. Sorry for running out like that.” Hinata gave Komaeda the same smile he gave all the customers at the museum.

Komaeda frowned back.

“Hinata-kun, are you okay?”

“Yes. I just forgot my contact lens. I can’t see very well without it, so it would be a problem if I lost it.” Hinata lied. And Hinata knew Komaeda knew that he was lying. But, he really didn’t want to have this conversation.

Hinata walked past Komaeda without a second glance.

“Did you leave our bags unattended? It might be early, but there could still be some people—”

Komaeda grabbed Hinata’s arm before he could escape.

“What?” Hinata glared at Komaeda as he tugged his arm back.

“I don’t mind your eye at all.” Komaeda stared intently into Hinata’s eyes as he said that.

While it didn’t seem like the other male was lying, Hinata couldn’t help but feel angry. Hinata gave a sigh of frustration to keep up the act of being unfazed.

“You don’t have to lie. I’m used to it. I won’t be hurt even if you tell the truth.”

“That _is_ the truth.” Komaeda insisted.

Hinata feigned a laugh.

“Anyways, let’s just head back,” Hinata turned around, but was stopped again by Komaeda.

“Hinata-kun, _please_ believe me.”

Hinata looked down to the floor.

“Hiding a part of your self so that the world may accept you... How could I believe someone who doesn’t know how it feels— _who I’ve just met._ ”

Komaeda fell silent after that and Hinata was about to attempt his escape for the third time when Komaeda’s voice stopped him this time.

“My gloves aren’t just for the cold.”

Hinata turned around to ask him what he meant, but Komaeda was ahead of him. Komaeda took off his left glove to reveal an onyx coloured prosthetic.

“Or to keep my hands clean while painting...”

Hinata could only stare back as he listened to Komaeda's own shaky voice.

“It’s pretty well made, so people don’t really realise that it’s a fake unless I take off my gloves, but...”

Komaeda smiled sadly and looked up at Hinata. “We may not have known each other for long, but I know how it’s like... So please trust me when I tell you: I think your eyes are beautiful.”

Hinata felt his face grow hot as tears pricked his eyes.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know.” Komaeda laughed the same laugh he gave Hinata even before Komaeda learned about his eye and Hinata could feel himself smiling.

“ _Thank you._ ”

Komaeda’s own cheeks were red as he smiled back.

“Let’s go back before the breakfast gets too cold.”

* * *

When the duo arrived back to the their seats in the cafeteria, Hinata was relieved to see that none of their belongings have been disturbed— even Hinata’s phone which had been stupidly left on the table top. Picking up his toast and phone again, Hinata began to look for his calendar app while finishing his piece of bread.

“Uhm...” Hinata hummed to himself as he continued looking for the schedule. “I’ll be at work until five today.”

“Five, huh?” Komaeda looked thoughtful as he chewed on his own bagel. “Would you like to come to my studio, then?”

“Huh?”

“It’s at Jabberwock, so it’ll be on your way home.”

Hinata does remember Komaeda saying something like that on their first meeting. Hinata pondered about Komaeda’s offer. If he had a studio by Jabberwock then he won’t have to worry about staying so late that the busses would no longer be in service. If anything, he could walk back.

“Sure,” Hinata answered.

“Perfect.” Komaeda beamed at him and took out his own phone. In a few seconds, Hinata’s phone vibrated again to show that a new message has been received.

“That’s the address to my place.” Komaeda said.

Hinata clicked on the address, bringing him to a Google maps page. It wasn’t too far from the station; around four blocks from it.

“I should be there around... maybe six?” Hinata estimated the time around train traffic and walking.

“I’ll be waiting, then.”

* * *

“Hinata-kun.”

Hinata turned around when he heard a soft voice calling out his name.

“Oh, hey, Nanami.” Hinata smiled as he approached his friend. “Huh? Weren’t you supposed to have left at four today?”

Nanami nodded.

“They needed an extra hand with the new furniture displays, so they asked me to do some overtime, but...” Nanami paused to rub her eyes and yawn. “I’d rather sleep though...”

Hinata laughed. “I bet you were playing games ‘til late at night again, weren’t you?”

The pink haired girl nodded slowly. It almost looked like she was nodding off to sleep rather than answering Hinata. “Where’d you go last night?”

“Hmm? What was that?” The brunet couldn’t hear her as the train approached and the announcer dominated all the noises in the station.

Nanami followed Hinata into the train and the two of them sat down on the empty seats of the train cart. Hinata was silently grateful that he got off work during the time slot right before rush hour. There were only about eight other people in their train cart, excluding them.

“I said, ‘Where did you go last night?’ I wanted to try a new 2P game with you.” Nanami pouted and huffed, feigning annoyance which Hinata fell for.

“Sorry, I had to stay back at the lab.” Hinata stated his reason quickly to avoid upsetting Nanami any further.

Nanami giggled when she saw his reaction. “I know. I heard from Matsuda-kun.”

“Oh.” Hinata had been completely duped by her.

“To be honest, you should’ve just let him do the stuff on his own.”

“Haha, I couldn’t do that. Besides, it would’ve taken him forever to collect the samples and test results on his own.” It was true. Even with the two of them, it had taken them an entire night.

Nanami yawned again. “Well whatever, I guess. Aren’t you tired, Hinata-kun?”

“Nah, I’m still under the effects of three cups of coffee.”

“Good, wake me up when it’s our stop.” With that, Nanami stretched herself so that she laid horizontally on the bench and plopped her head on Hinata’s lap.

“Ugh... Nanami, did you get heavier?” Hinata teased.

“Snoreeee...”

“Don’t actually say the action when you’re pretending to be asleep.”

Hinata didn’t receive a response so he decided to take out his phone and occupy himself with it. Maybe even snap a few photos of Nanami for blackmail later if she does anything funny.

* * *

Nanami yawned and stretched her arms above her head as she exited the station with Hinata.

“Let’s go back and play that new game now!” Nanami spoke softly, but there was an obvious glint in her eye that gave away her excitement. Hinata definitely wouldn’t have been able to say no to her if he didn’t have prior plans.

“Sorry, Nanami, I—”

“Hinata-kun.”

Both of them turned their heads towards the voice calling out Hinata’s name.

Komaeda, who was leaning on a lamppost by the station entrance, stood up straight once Hinata turned to him. The tall man waved and walked up to the duo.

“Komaeda?” Hinata had definitely not expected to meet him here.

“I thought I’ll come pick you up, in case you got lost.”

“O-oh... That’s nice...” Hinata was unsure if he should be happy that Komaeda thought ahead for him or offended that the other man didn’t trust his abilities to use Google maps on his phone.

The three of them stood in silence for a moment before Nanami cleared her throat. Both Komaeda and Hinata turned their attention to the short girl.

“I take it that you’re not free tonight, either, Hinata-kun?”

“Yes, sorry, he’s with me.” Komaeda answered before Hinata had a chance to, leaving no room for objections.

Hinata laughed nervously as he looked away from Nanami, already knowing that she had on that disappointed face that would no doubt make him cave.

“Sorry, Nanami, we won’t be able to play that game today.” Hinata said with an apologetic smile.

“Fine...” Hinata could hear the pout in her voice. “I’ll wait for when you’re free, then.”

Hinata smiled and finally felt brave enough to look at her. “Thanks.”

Nanami smiled back and nodded. The moment didn’t last long before Komaeda gripped Hinata’s wrist tightly and dragged him away.

“Let’s get going before it gets dark.”

"Huh?" Hinata had to jog to keep up with Komaeda’s long strides and it was only when they turned the corner did Komaeda stop— only because Hinata was able to use the momentum of the turn to force Komaeda into a halt.

“Komaeda— _wait._ ” Hinata sighed. Did he talk too much about worrying for his safety when he first met Komaeda? “It’s fine if it’s dark by the time we get there. I’m not exactly worried that someone might rob us in such a busy street.”

Komaeda blinked, an expression of confusion appeared on his face for a moment before he smiled at Hinata.

“Haha, are you really in the Bio-Major?”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Hinata wasn’t really sure what Komaeda was trying to say by implying that he was dumb, but Hinata figured that alone was pretty offensive in itself.

Instead of answering him, Komaeda only laughed and started pulling on Hinata’s wrist again, but with less force.

“Let’s go. We’re almost there.” Komaeda said.

But, Hinata stayed standing still.

“Wait.”

Komaeda turned around to face the brunet again.

“What’s wrong, Hinata-kun?”

“I’ll meet up with you at your place, after all. Sorry for making you come out and pick me up, though.”

“It’s no problem. Is there something you need to buy before coming over? I don’t mind coming with you.” Komaeda held on tighter again. The action left Hinata confused as he wriggled out of Komaeda’s hold slowly as to not surprise the other man.

“No, that’s not it.” Hinata paused as he averted his eyes and his cheeks heated up in embarrassment. “Uh... You know how I spent the night in the lab, yesterday? I want to go back and take a shower first...”

Hinata looked up when he heard a sound of laughter emitting from the other.

“Hey! If I’m going to be sitting like a rock for another two hours, I’d like to be clean, at least.”

Komaeda only laughed harder at that and Hinata glared at him until his laughs died down to just giggles.

Hinata huffed. “So, I guess I’ll see you in thirty minutes.”

“Wait, wait.” Komaeda reached for Hinata’s hand to stop him this time. “If it’s a just a shower, you can use the one at my place. We’re almost there anyways.”

“Huh? Isn’t that a little weird? Letting someone else take a shower at your place? Besides, I’d rather not.”

If possible, he’ll rather not create more situations for him to embarrass himself.

“It’s not problem, really. And, I’ll really like to start as soon as possible, so...”

“But...”

“Please, _I insist._ ” Komaeda tugged on Hinata’s hand as if to coax the brunet not to go.

Unable to say no, Hinata conceded and let out a long sigh.

“Alright, I guess.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh. this was supposed to be a oneshot.  
> ... It got too long, which works well for me, I guess since I was trying out a new style and I can maybe salvage what's left of this fic in the second chapter... f u ck im sorry.
> 
> * * *
> 
> If your'e confused about the title, chiaroscuro, scroll up to the first note. I intend for this fic to turn 180° to reflect the light/dark elements just like a chiaroscuro styled painting. So, the rating will go up next chapter, but I don't intend it to go to E... hopefully. I'm not too sure.


	2. Obscur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It didn't matter to Hinata that they all thought that Komaeda was no good for him.  
> And Komaeda would make sure that no one else mattered to Hinata.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I'll like to apologise for:
> 
>   1. almost 5 months of no update (honest to god, I thought I would be done in the following week, but no)
>   2. 20k words
>   3. unbeta'd. like i rly just wanted to update this already
>   4. this. lol im sorry. it's not rated E for everyone for a reason.
> 


Tonight, he is with someone other than him. Laughing with someone other than him. Gazing. Touching. Kissi—

The sound of paper crinkling beneath Komaeda’s fingers shocked him back to reality. Gazing down, Komaeda realised that he had accidently gripped the sketch he drew of Hinata this afternoon too tightly. Komaeda sighed and set the paper down onto the cool surface of his table and began smoothing out the crinkles.

_Of course not._

Komaeda didn’t know what he was thinking. He just spent two hours studying Hinata while he drew the brunet in the art room. The other boy was nothing short of pure innocence under that cold façade of his. Komaeda couldn’t see all of Hinata behind the proverbial walls that the brunet had built around him, but Komaeda would like to think that he was able to knock a few down; just enough to see a glimpse inside.

Hinata was surely the embodiment of everything Komaeda had wanted to paint for years now— everything Komaeda wanted.

Komaeda breathed out a frustrated sigh as he realised that there was no salvaging this sketch of his. The wrinkle imbedded itself deep into the paper and refused to smooth out. Leaning back on his chair, Komaeda could see the first rays of light peeking out from his window shades.

_Have I spent the night staring at these sketches?_

That wasn’t good. He still had some things he had to do for his other classes. Not to mention that the result of this night was ruining one of his sketches.

Was his bad luck cycle coming up again? If so, he had to hurry before it becomes too large of a problem. Komaeda picked up his phone to text Hinata.

“I wonder if he’s awake...” Komaeda muttered to himself.

Komaeda’s mood lightened up as soon as he saw that Hinata was up and responded almost instantly to his text. The albino grinned like an idiot as he pressed the call button, deciding to call Hinata rather than texting him. It took a few rings, but Hinata eventually picked up and Komaeda greeted Hinata in a cheerful tone.

The time on his phone read just a little past 6AM, so it made sense that Hinata sounded so tired. It was even cute how he took a moment to respond to Komaeda— like the brunet just woke up and needed time to process what Komaeda was saying. Komaeda couldn’t contain his happiness and let out a joyful laugh.

_‘My voice is the first thing Hinata-kun hears today—’_

“ _Hajime, come back to bed._ ”

Komaeda froze as he barely registered the incoming words from the other line.

It was a male voice. And it wasn't Hinata's.

Who was it that Hinata spent the night with again?

Komaeda thought back to when Hinata picked up the call last night. He had called the other person on the line... Natsu? Matsu? Right. Matsu-something. Shit. Why couldn’t he remember?

_‘Ah, I need to paint something before my luck gets any worse.’_

* * *

* * *

Komaeda hummed to himself as he unlocked the door for him and Hinata. ‘Glad’ didn’t cover the range of emotions Komaeda felt when he heard Hinata agree to come over. It was a relief to know where the other male was tonight— who he was with.

“The bathroom’s at the first door to the right. I’ll bring you a clean towel later.”

When Komaeda noticed that Hinata hadn’t moved from the entrance way, Komaeda started to feel self-conscious.

“Hinata-kun?” Komaeda walked up to the other man in the room. “What’s wrong?”

Did Hinata not like the place? Did he no longer wish to model for him? Did he want to leave—

“Uhm, sorry,” The brunet replied sheepishly. “I guess this is the first time I’ve seen an artist’s place... Uhm, well I guess I’ve had art classes in art classrooms before, but...”

Komaeda cocked a head to the side in confusion as he studied Hinata. The boy was nervous, hesitant, as he stated his mind; as if Hinata was having some internal struggle of whether or not he should tell Komaeda what was on his mind.

“How do I say this...” Hinata trailed off as he closed his eyes in thought.

Komaeda was practically jumping out of his skin in anticipation. What did Hinata want to tell him?

“I don’t mean to offend you when I say this, Komaeda, but,” Hinata scratched the back of his head. “If this is how your living and sleeping area looks, then I’m afraid to go into your bathroom.”

“What do you mean?” Komaeda looked around the studio floor. Kitchen, counter, table, lamp, window, bed, easels, canvases... a chair...

The albino looked back at Hinata with an arched eyebrow.

“Komaeda, there’s paint everywhere.”

_Oh._

Komaeda let out a breath of relief as he realised that was all. Hinata wasn’t planning on turning back.

“Don’t worry. I at least keep my bathroom clear of paint; I can’t have the place where I clean myself be dirtier than myself.”

This seemed to alarm Hinata since the other boy practically pounced on Komaeda with his next question.

“Then, where do you empty and clean your paints?”

“The kitchen sink, of course,” Komaeda answered immediately.

“...And where do you eat?”

“The kitchen.”

Hinata let out a resigned sigh. “Forget it, I’m not here to tell you how to live your life.”

“Oh! Hinata-kun, were you worried?”

“I said, forget it.”

Komaeda let out a cheerful laugh. He was able to change Hinata’s attitude towards him so fast in just a matter of days. It must be because Hinata felt it, too? That they were similar?

As Komaeda gushed about it in his own little world, Hinata quietly slipped into the bathroom to avoid further embarrassment.

* * *

Komaeda could hear that the shower has been on for a few minutes now and deduced that it was alright to go into the bathroom. The shower cubicle should have fogged up by now, and besides, it was tinted so that you couldn’t see who was showering on the other side. Maybe the most you’ll see are shadows on the glass.

Komaeda knocked twice before entering. When he heard no response from Hinata, he decided to leave the towel on a rack and then quickly leave. Or, that was the plan...

Hinata’s trousers were folded neatly on top of the toilet seat cover.

Pink hair.

Why was there pink hair on Hinata’s pants? On his crotch area, none the less. Holding the pair of pants up to inspect it closer to the light, Komaeda could see that it was semi long and that there wasn’t only one strand, but maybe two or three.

Wordlessly, Komaeda took Hinata’s pants out with him. Maybe it was actually Hinata’s brown hair and the weird yellow economic lights in the bathroom just made it look pink.

Komaeda flipped on every light switch in the living room. The white, fluorescent lights slowly transitioned in as it brightened up the room like a surgical table.

It was still pink.

If anything, it looked even pinker than before. Komaeda sat down on his bed and picked a hair off slowly as he examined it. It looked to be shoulder length; like that girl Hinata was with earlier this evening. What was her name? She wanted to steal Hinata away to play ‘games’ with him.

_“Nanami.”_

Right. Hinata called her Nanami. Without any kind of honorific. Like him. Was ‘Nanami’ her given name, or was it the family name?

Who is she to Hinata?

Nanami, Nanami, Nanami... Has Komaeda seen or heard of her before?

_Nanami Chiaki._

Ah... So it was a last name. She was the girl who Hinata was trying to call right after they got out of the station, on the first day they met. It was also thanks to her that Hinata ended up being free that night... In other words, they planned to be together that night?

It must’ve been Komaeda’s luck that prevented that.

Komaeda doesn’t know how long he’s sat on his bed with Hinata’s pants on his lap, but he finally snapped out of it when he heard another voice, different from his inner musings.

“Komaeda, have you seen my— oh.”

Komaeda only stared at Hinata as he walked over towards him— never once breaking his gaze from Hinata even as the brunet stopped in front of him. Hinata had a perplexed face and Komaeda could tell what Hinata wanted to ask. Before Hinata could say a word, though, Komaeda spoke first.

“Are you in a physical relationship with anyone?”

“What?”

“Like a girlfriend? Or boyfriend?” Komaeda sat up straighter with each question as he leaned closer towards Hinata who stood his ground despite the intimidating demeanour on Komaeda’s face.

Hinata scowled. “Are you never going to let up on that? I’m not even going out with him.”

“That’s good.” Komaeda was standing now, too. Their foreheads were almost touching and Komaeda held onto Hinata’s arm so that the latter couldn’t escape his gaze. “But, that wasn’t what I asked. I asked if you were having sex with anybody.”

Hinata’s face heated up at the direct question and the proximity between them.

“What does that have to do with you anyways?”

“Everything.” Komaeda growled back. His mechanical hand gripped harder around Hinata’s arm. Komaeda only loosened his grip with he saw Hinata wincing.

“Sorry, Hinata-kun! Sometimes I forget the grip strength of this hand is a little stronger than the average person’s...” Komaeda took slow, shallow breaths to calm down.

Hinata furrowed his brow at Komaeda in confusion. “Alright...”

The albino slowly took Hinata’s tanned fingers with his human hand; this time, making sure to be gentle.

“I need to know about your current relationships because...” Komaeda trailed off.

_‘_ — _because you should only do those things with me.’_

“Because I can’t have you harmed in any way during your days of modelling for me.”

“Was there a contract I should’ve signed before agreeing to this?”

Komaeda chuckled at Hinata’s cynicism.

“No, I just want to take care of my model so I can draw him at his best state.”

Hinata gave up and let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m not seeing anyone or having sex with anyone at this time.” Hinata rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “There, that good enough for you?”

_‘What a liar, I can see the pink hair on your pants.’_

“What hair?” Hinata asked and Komaeda’s head snapped to him like a deer caught in the headlights.

“Oh... Did I say that out loud?”

Hinata frowned at him and raised an eyebrow as if saying: ‘ _Really?_ ’

Komaeda returned a nervous laugh and picked up Hinata’s forgotten pants from the floor. “I was just wondering about this.” Komaeda showed him the pink hair that had caught his attention.

“Oh.” Hinata’s eyes lit up in recognition. “Nanami used me as a pillow on the train.”

That was certainly another reason why the hair was there. Komaeda laughed softly to himself as he realised how quickly he had jumped the gun on this one.

“So, is that all?” Hinata asked as he started putting back on his pants.

“Yes— Hinata-kun, what are you doing?”

“Huh?” Hinata felt a sense of déjà vu at that question. “Uh, isn’t it obvious? Putting on my pants.”

Komaeda nodded. “Could you leave it off? Actually, could you take it all off?”

“Uh...” Hinata face visibly paled at those words.

Komaeda flashed Hinata a reassuring smile before walking towards his supply closet to grab an easel along with some other supplies.

“I want to get the anatomy, edges and curves right. There are some things that I won’t be able to improvise with your clothes on...”

“Oh...” Hinata seemed to understand, but that didn’t make him any less nervous about stripping in front of the other male. Komaeda smiled at Hinata again once he set the easel down, hoping to calm Hinata.

“It’ll be like changing in a locker room.” Komaeda said as he tried reassuring the brunet again.

“You don’t stand in the nude for two hours in the locker room.” Hinata deadpanned.

“Haha, do you need help, then?”

“No!” Hinata shot back instantly. His face flushed pink at the offer. “I got this, just finish setting up your stuff.”

Komaeda looked back with a disappointed smile. “Hmm... alright, then. Just sit however you want on the bed. Sorry, I don’t own a lot of furniture here.”

* * *

Hinata stood sideways from Komaeda as he started undressing. Glancing over at Komaeda briefly, Hinata could see the albino shuffling through his kit as the latter tried to find a lead piece that wasn’t dull. The other male sighed when he couldn’t find one and took out the lead sharpener to quickly sharpen it.

Hinata stopped watching after the first few turns of the tool. The movements were almost hypnotizing as he felt his eyes begin to droop. Unfortunately, taking a shower hadn’t woken him up. In fact, it made Hinata want to collapse and hibernate for a week. Hinata exhaled slowly as his fingers began working on the buttons of his shirt. He felt exhausted. Too exhausted to care that he was stripping in front of Komaeda anymore. Hinata stepped out of his boxers one leg at a time and slumped onto the bed. The brunet let out a satisfied sigh as he felt the soft mattress underneath him. Sleeping sounded great right now.

A cough resounded in the room, prompting Hinata to look towards Komaeda’s direction. He was currently sitting behind the canvas with the top half of his face peeking above the board. Hinata could sense that Komaeda wanted to say something, but after a moment of silence, Hinata decided to initiate the conversation.

“Yes?” Hinata asked, startling Komaeda.

“Oh! Uh... Your contact lens. Will you be keeping it off?”

Oh. That’s right, he took it off before taking a shower earlier. He remembers leaving it on the bathroom sink counter. He must have forgotten to put it back on while looking for his pants.

“Hold on, I’ll go grab it...” Hinata sluggishly moved off the bed as he looked towards the bathroom.

“It’s alright.” Komaeda’s frantic voice stopped Hinata’s movements as the brunet turned his gaze from the bathroom to Komaeda. “I prefer it off, anyways.”

Hinata looked back down to the bed as he climbed back on it. “If you’re sure.”

“I am,” Komaeda responded with sincerity.

Hinata leaned his side on the wall that the bed was placed against. Bringing his knees up, Hinata tried to stay as decent as he possibly could while being naked. He hugged his knees close and placed more of his body weight onto the wall as he laid his head on the cool surface. Hinata turned his head to watch Komaeda whose hands have already started working. Komaeda would look at him while moving his hands on the paper in front of him. Hinata thought it was impressive how he could split his attention like that. The artist only looked down occasionally to correct a few lines and intricate details, but he kept his eyes trained on Hinata, studying him the majority of the time; yet his fingers never stopped moving. The constant light grazing of the lead and the soothing scent of old oil paints on the sheets lulled Hinata to close his eyes as he fought the urge to fall asleep. Hinata stared dully ahead towards Komaeda’s direction, locking eyes with the painter a few times as the latter focused on his portrait.

* * *

Komaeda was glad that the large canvas acted as a wall between Hinata and him. Thanks to the board, it hid his heated face. His blush grew every time their eyes met and Komaeda would be forced to look back down on his canvas before he did anything that would alert Hinata.

Komaeda focussed on the sketch before him as he took deep breaths to calm down. Maybe it was a bad idea to tell Hinata to take his clothes off. Did the brunet know how it made Komaeda feel? He wished Hinata did. That way, Komaeda wouldn’t have to pretend to be a gentleman in front of Hinata. He wanted nothing more than to keep Hinata here forever. But, that would only make Hinata afraid of him.

Komaeda sighed as he looked back up at Hinata and blinked at the sight.

Hinata’s head tilted upwards as his body fell towards the wall more for support. His body twisted awkwardly as his back leaned on the wall, but Hinata still had his arms wrapped around his legs as he sat sideways, away from Komaeda. His eyes were closed as he breathed lightly.

Komaeda let out a chortle as he realised Hinata had fallen asleep. The brunet probably hasn’t even had an hour of rest since yesterday. Komaeda could barely contain his laughter as Hinata’s body fell over onto the bed in fetal position. Hinata’s face looked so peaceful; Komaeda didn’t want to wake Hinata up by laughing. No matter how pure the other male looked on his bed right now, Komaeda couldn’t stop the thoughts in the back of his head. Hinata was so defenceless right now. There was a part of him that thought he should just tie him up, drug him, take him, and keep him for himself.

_‘But I don’t want Hinata-kun to hate me.’_

The fact that Hinata could fall asleep in his presence meant that the brunet trusted him— felt comfortable with him. Komaeda giggled darkly as he debated with himself in his mind.

If Komaeda just kept Hinata here with him, wouldn’t Hinata just be forced to love Komaeda back unconditionally then?

No, he couldn’t just assume Hinata would definitely develop a case of Stockholm Syndrome for him. It wasn't like this was a Disney movie, or anything. With statistics showing only an 8% of people actually developing this syndrome, it would make sense to just rely on his luck... But, it seems like his bad luck cycle was coming up. Depending on his luck now was probably a bad idea.

Taking a measured breath, Komaeda made his way over towards Hinata. The artist gently moved Hinata so that his head was resting on a pillow and sleeping normally. Komaeda then threw a blanket over the sleeping boy before Hinata caught a cold.

Komaeda pulled his chair over to the bed and sat in it, staring at Hinata’s relaxed face with a smile on his own face. A few moments passed before a soft vibrate coming from the pile of Hinata’s clothes brought Komaeda back to reality. Komaeda got up curiously and walked towards the noise, digging through Hinata’s pockets for the phone. It would be rather unfortunate if Hinata woke up from the sound. The brunet deserved to sleep today. Komaeda patted around, finally finding it in the back pocket of Hinata’s pants.

One look at the display screen of Hinata’s phone got Komaeda’s blood boiling again. Komaeda swiped at the _answer call_ option almost immediately after reading the caller ID, not thinking twice before doing the action.

Holding the phone to his ear, Komaeda waited for the other person to speak first as he walked towards the kitchen, far away from Hinata just in case Hinata might wake up from the noise.

“Hinata are you there?” The person on the other side asked after hearing nothing but silence on the phone.

“He’s sleeping at the moment.” Komaeda replied in a monotone voice.

The caller seemed to be taken back by Komaeda’s voice— obviously not expecting anyone other than Hinata to answer. After a second of silence, the stranger replied:

“It’s not even eight, yet.”

Komaeda gave a lifeless chuckle in response. “No, it’s not. But, he was forced to spend all night with you last night, Matsuda Yasuke.” Komaeda spat his name out like venom.

“Uhm...” Matsuda sounded unsure of how to handle this situation. “Well, can you let Hinata know that the professor posted our grades online, then?”

“Fine. Is that all?” Komaeda gripped the phone tightly. The moment he saw Matsuda’s name on Hinata’s phone screen, he remembered the name of the person that had called Hinata that night.

_‘Matsuda-san’_

In other words, the person who Hinata bought a coffee for.

The person that Hinata spent the night with.

“Yeah, that’s all.”

“Good bye, then.” Komaeda said briskly and ended the call right away. He tried to calm down as he ran a hand through his hair. Komaeda placed the phone on the kitchen counter before sitting back on his chair beside Hinata.

_‘Annoying.’_

It was annoying how Hinata attracted these lesser, insignificant creatures. He couldn’t even hear an ounce of hope in their voices. Such a disappointment. Unlike Hinata’s hope, which radiated from his body. Komaeda deduced that a large basis of it stemmed from the experiences Hinata must’ve had in his childhood— from his parents to something more innate: his insecurity about his heterochromia.

Komaeda smiled. Those eyes really were beautiful to him. Red and green. Like they were marked for him. He felt blessed whenever Hinata looked at him with those eyes. He was even happier when Hinata implied that Komaeda was most probably the only one who has seen and liked it.

The only one.

Komaeda wanted to be the only one.

_‘I want to become Hinata-kun’s hope.’_

* * *

Komaeda slowly opened his eyes when he heard a quiet movement in his room. He got up from the sofa, still feeling disorientated from his nap as he gradually started to reorganise his thoughts.

Hinata had fallen asleep and then... Komaeda had answered a call for the other boy. After watching Hinata for a bit, Komaeda had felt pretty tired himself and decided to crash on the sofa to avoid waking Hinata up.

Komaeda looked around. Where _was_ the brunet? Walking towards his bed, he could see that the pile of clothes that had been on the floor nearby was gone. The bed was made. Had Hinata left already? Komaeda turned on the living room lights as he continued his search. The clock read 1:20 AM. Hinata couldn't have gone out this late, could he?

No one in the bathroom.

No one in the kitchen. But, Hinata’s phone was still on the counter, where Komaeda left it.

Checking the bathroom again, he saw that the contact lens were gone, though.

Komaeda frowned. Did Hinata really just leave this early in the morning? Those sounds he woke up from were probably the sound of Hinata closing the door. It worried Komaeda that he couldn’t even call the brunet now, since Hinata’s phone was in his possession right now. His phone was the only form of contact Komaeda had of Hinata.

Komaeda scratched the back of his head. It was partly his fault that Hinata forgot his phone. _He_ was the one who placed it on the kitchen counter. Hinata probably didn’t even think it was gone. Sighing, he grabbed his keys and coat. It shouldn’t have been too long since Hinata left; the bed was still warm, so Komaeda should still be able to catch up to Hinata if he ran now.

_‘Wow, he even thought to lock the door behind him,’_ Komaeda thought as he realised that the door was locked. The noise that woke him up was definitely the sound of Hinata slamming the door shut after locking it from inside.

Komaeda quickly jogged down the hall and pressed the down arrow on the elevator. Looking up, he could see that someone was already riding the elevator up. Komaeda silently hoped that they were getting off his floor so he wouldn’t have to wait for the elevator to come back down to him.

A loud ‘ _ding_ ’ resounded in the empty elevator lobby. Komaeda smiled.

‘ _How lucky,_ ’ Komaeda thought as he prepared to dash in the moment the doors opened. The longer he has to wait, the farther Hinata will be.

_‘Definitely lucky!’_ The pale man’s eyes lit up when he saw the familiar face of the person in the elevator.

“Thank goodness you came back, Hinata-kun!”

Hinata’s body jerked back into the elevator in surprise. The brunet looked up and blinked in confusion.

“Komaeda? You’re awake?”

“I woke up when I heard the door close.” Komaeda laughed lightly.

“Oh, sorry.” Hinata looked away in guilt. “Well, actually, I was coming back to wake you up, anyways...”

“Did you forget something?” Komaeda smiled. He knew exactly what the brunet came back for. It was the same reason Komaeda was here, with Hinata, in the elevator lobby at 1 AM in the morning.

“I think I left my phone at your place.” Hinata paused. “But, it seems like you were about to head out, so maybe I should come back another time?” What Komaeda could be planning to do this early in the morning, Hinata didn’t know. And frankly, it wasn’t his business, but that didn’t stop Hinata from looking at Komaeda, intrigued and silently wondering.

Komaeda noticed the curious look that Hinata was giving him and decided to answer the unspoken question.

“I was looking for you.”

“Looking for me?” Hinata was even more confused with this new information.

_‘Shit.’_

He had told Hinata that without thinking. The look of pure curiosity on Hinata’s face had momentarily voided any reasonable thinking. Great. Now, he had to think of a suitable reason for why he was looking for the brunet without sounding suspicious. If possible, he’ll like Hinata to come back to his studio for the night.

A few seconds passed as Komaeda let his thoughts run. Hinata was looking at him with an even more perplexed face, now— with one eyebrow arched as he waited for Komaeda’s answer.

“I realised I haven’t paid you, yet.” Komaeda finally answered.

Hinata frowned. “That’s it?”

Komaeda nodded. Hinata felt like the real answer shouldn’t be that simple, seeing that Komaeda did take a while to answer him. But, Hinata only sighed and decided not to pursue the question.

“How lucky that we met up here, huh?”

“I suppose...” Hinata responded while absentmindedly following the taller man back to the studio apartment. Komaeda quickly unlocked the door and let Hinata in. The brunet made a beeline towards the bathroom, assuming that it was the most likely place where he left his phone. While Hinata searched the bathroom, Komaeda took his time locking the door and hanging up his jacket before switching the lights on.

“Komaeda, do you know where my—”

“Is this what you’re looking for, Hinata-kun?” Komaeda held the device up for Hinata to see.

* * *

Hinata stepped out of the bathroom to ask if Komaeda had seen his phone, but he was abruptly cut off by Komaeda’s own question. He looked towards Komaeda to see the phone he was searching for with Komaeda.

“Oh, thanks,” Hinata said as he walked over to the other male. Hadn’t this happened before? Just earlier tonight; when he was looking for his pants?

Hinata held his hand out, waiting for Komaeda to give him his phone. After a moment of awkward silence between the two, Komaeda pocketed Hinata’s phone.

“Hey!” Hinata said in an annoyed tone. “Aren’t you going to give it to me?”

Komaeda only smiled as he thumbed the phone in his pocket. “Sure, tomorrow.”

Hinata frowned. “I’m going to need it now, since I’ll need it in the morning.”

“So, stay here for the night.”

“What?” Hinata was visibly taken back by Komaeda’s offer.

Komaeda softened his gaze on Hinata and smiled.

“It’s dangerous to be out at this time.”

Hinata’s cheeks dusted pink. His eyes were the same as earlier this evening when Komaeda walked him here and when he questioned Hinata in his living room. Did that look just mean that the other man was worried about him? He couldn’t deny that the thought of Komaeda worrying about him was sweet.

“I think I can take care of myself.” Hinata huffed as he looked away in embarrassment.

“I know. But, just stay for my sake, won’t you?”

“That’s impossible. You only have one bed anyways.”

Hinata honestly didn’t want Komaeda to sleep on the couch _in his own place_. Knowing how thoughtful the other male was, he would definitely insist Hinata to take the bed.

“I don’t mind—”

“I’m not letting you sleep on your couch.”

“—sharing the bed with you.”

“Definitely not.” Hinata’s face flared at the suggestion.

Komaeda pouted. “What would make you stay, then?”

“Nothing. I still have classes tomorrow so I’ll have to head back to my apartment anyways.”

Not to mention his toothbrush is there. If he did end up staying the night here, what was he going to do in the morning? He also wanted a change of clothes. Hinata stopped his train of thoughts there. Why was he even considering this? He looked over at where Komaeda was standing. The albino seemed to be pondering about something.

“Then, at least let me walk you home.”

* * *

Truthfully, Komaeda never expected Hinata to agree to stay over. So, when Hinata refused, Komaeda used that chance to bargain for another, less taxing, deal instead. One that Hinata would be less prone to declining after hearing the first offer Komaeda proposed. Komaeda _would_ have liked for Hinata to stay the night and then walk him home in the morning, but you can’t always get what you want.

He watched as the brunet sigh and hold out his hand.

“Fine.”

Komaeda smiled and held Hinata’s outstretched hand firmly.

“ _No_! My _phone_.” Hinata said as he tried to pry his hand out of Komaeda’s mechanical one. Hinata’s cheeks were dyed red and Komaeda could feel his own face heat up.

“Haha, well then, let’s go!” Komaeda smiled at the boy whose hand he was holding. He knew Hinata held his hand out for his phone, but Komaeda couldn’t pass this chance up. Not if Luck had so graciously given him this chance.

As they walked out, Komaeda asked for Hinata’s address so he wouldn’t have to just blindly follow Hinata. It was still a little chilly since it was so early in the morning and Komaeda could feel Hinata unconsciously walking closer to him for warmth. Smiling, he thanked Lady Luck again that Hinata had dressed lightly. Komaeda sighed happily at his luck; he was able to walk Hinata home, while holding hands, with Hinata cuddled against his arm, whether Hinata realises his actions or not.

When they arrived, Komaeda learned that Hinata lived in an apartment complex on the fifth floor. Hinata was unlocking the door when Komaeda noticed the nameplates next to it.

**Hinata**

**Nanami**

Two nameplates.

Nanami.

That name again.

How absolutely frustrating for his luck to get him high in happiness only to knock him back down. But, then again, what did he expect? His bad luck cycle was returning.

“Komaeda? What’s wrong?” Hinata had already unlocked the door and was now staring at Komaeda with concern. “A-are you feeling okay? Do you want to come in and sit down?”

* * *

Komaeda has been staring off at nothing for a while and Hinata was starting to worry for the unresponsive man.

“A-are you feeling okay? Do you want to come in and sit down?” Hinata asked, concern laced in every word. He could see light coming from Nanami’s room so he didn’t have to worry about waking her up if he invited Komaeda in.

The said man seemed to snap back to reality from wherever he was before and turned to him, laughing softly.

“Sorry, I was just thinking. I’m fine.”

Hinata furrowed his brows. He felt unsatisfied with Komaeda’s answer and decided to pull him inside with him.

“Come on, sit down.” Hinata dragged him to the living room and forced him to sit on the sofa. The brunet left temporarily to fetch a drink for him in the kitchen. He grabbed a guest mug and washed it before pouring Komaeda a cup of green tea that he and Nanami usually kept in the kitchen. Before exiting the kitchen, Hinata made sure to refill the teapot with hot water for Nanami.

“Tea.” Hinata told Komaeda as he set the mug on the coffee table in front of Komaeda.

“You didn’t have to go this far, Hinata-kun.”

Hinata looked away as he hid his embarrassed face. “You looked really troubled. What’s on your mind? I could listen to your problems at least... We’re friends right?” Hinata picked lint off the couch to distract himself from the silence. He wondered casually if it was alright to call his employer a friend...

Hinata heard a low chuckle from Komaeda and looked over at the other boy who was crouched over, looking down at the cup in his hands. He couldn’t see what kind of expression Komaeda held at all.

“Komaeda?”

* * *

Komaeda was touched that Hinata cared for him that much. He really was. Which was why Komaeda wanted more. He couldn’t be patient and stick to his plan, though. Not anymore. Not when there were just so many varying factors in Hinata’s life. Losing him to some random person he didn’t even know... Komaeda wouldn’t stand for that. If only Hinata loved him, then this wouldn’t be a problem.

Komaeda chuckled.

 “Komaeda?” Komaeda could distantly hear Hinata calling out to him.

He set his cup carefully onto the coffee table and looked over at Hinata who looked back in worry.

In a moment, Komaeda was looming over Hinata with his hands on the shoulders of the brunet, pinning him down on the couch as he kissed him. Hinata made a surprised sound and Komaeda could feel his _‘friend’_ struggling under his grip. When Komaeda broke apart for a second, Hinata took this chance to speak.

“Ko—”

Komaeda, in turn, took this chance to use his tongue as he began caressing Hinata’s tongue with his own. The boy tasted like caffeine and he briefly wondered just how much coffee he drank today to stay awake for as long as he did. As Komaeda kissed him, he loosened his grip on the shoulders and his hands ran down the brunet’s arms, his thumbs rubbing in lazy circles and trying to soothe Hinata. Komaeda only broke away only when he felt Hinata’s muscles finally relax under his touch.

“Is this something a friend would do?” Komaeda smirked.

Hinata blinked owlishly in response; face red— either from the lack of oxygen from the kiss, or just from the kiss itself. When Hinata didn’t say anything, Komaeda closed in for another kiss. It was a quick, chaste one this time as he cupped the other’s face and stared into the green eyes; one which was obviously a coloured contact when inspected upon closely.

“It’s bad manners to keep your eyes opened when someone kisses you, Hinata-kun,” Komaeda teased and Hinata spluttered in an unintelligent manner.

“Wait! What in the world? Komaeda, why are you...” Hinata didn’t know what to say. He would be looking away if it wasn’t for Komaeda cupping his face in place.

“You asked me what was on my mind.” Hinata remained speechless and Komaeda could feel the heat radiating off Hinata’s red face. Sensing that Hinata wouldn’t be responding again any time soon, Komaeda decided to continue speaking.

“I like you.” Komaeda leaned in to brush his lips on Hinata’s neck and he could hear the shorter male inhale sharply “Probably more than I should.”

“Mm!” Hinata muffled a sound when he felt teeth biting onto his skin. Komaeda started to suck on the spot making the boy under him gasp loudly.

“W-wait, Komaeda.”

“Hm?” Komaeda let go of his neck and started trailing his mouth up to Hinata’s, kissing him fully on the mouth again.

“H-hold on!” Hinata pushed Komaeda away lightly, just enough to make him back up. “I think there’s a mistake here, somewhere. You did just wake up, so that’s understandable.” He stood up, pulling Komaeda up along with him as they walked towards the door.

But, Komaeda pulled Hinata back before the other male could push him out.

“Hinata,” Komaeda said as he pulled Hinata back, the honorific lost in desperation. The painter didn’t waste a second as he crushed his lips onto Hinata’s again.

“Please don’t reject me.”

* * *

Was he serious?

Hinata stared wide eyed at Komaeda. The other boy had his arms wrapped around Hinata, pulling the latter into a crushing hug. It wasn’t so much a hug, rather, it was more like the taller man just collapsed on him. Hinata could feel Komaeda’s arms shaking around him as he waited for an answer.

Reject him?

He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t _possibly_ do that. He had no reason to. Especially not when Komaeda had accepted him despite knowing about his deformed eye. Komaeda had accepted all of him.

Hinata blushed and wrapped his own arms around Komaeda, steadying the boy’s shaky hands. He could hear a relieved sigh from Komaeda when he returned the action.

“Could you give me some more time?” Hinata finally answered. The arms around him tightened at that.

“How long?” Komaeda asked. When Hinata didn’t answer, Komaeda let go and stood up straight. “Will one week be enough?”

“Well...”

Komaeda didn’t wait for a formal answer and kissed Hinata’s cheek while the brunet thought about it. “Let me know next week.” The albino gave a small smile before handing Hinata his phone and seeing himself out the door. Before shutting the door, Komaeda called back to Hinata. “By the way, your lab partner said the grades were out.”

The door shut after that that.

It was quiet again. Hinata could hear his own footsteps as he made his way towards the kitchen. He needed something to drink. He opened the lid of the teapot to check if the tea was ready and he froze at the sight.

The tea in the pot was only filled up halfway. But, he was sure that when he left the kitchen, he had filled it up all the way. The only other person here was Nanami. And the only way to get to the kitchen was through the living room... Hinata’s face paled. Did she see everything?

“Did he leave?”

The sudden voice behind Hinata made him jump as he turned around to face Nanami.

“Yeah... Sorry about before,” Hinata answered, referring to when they had to part suddenly in front of the station and... Whatever she saw Komaeda and him doing just now.

Nanami shook her head. “It’s alright. Boyfriend?” She made her way over to the teapot in Hinata’s hands and poured tea into his cup before refilling her own.

Hinata muttered a ‘thanks’ and took a sip. “Uhm,” Hinata thought about his relationship with Komaeda. “I don’t know,” he answered truthfully.

Nanami nodded and looked up at him. Her face was unreadable she bit her bottom lip as if she was trying to solve a puzzle of her own. “He’s...” Nanami paused as she tried to look for the right words. “Kind of weird. Be careful, okay?”

Hinata smiled back at Nanami.

“He’s a little strange, but he’s not bad.”

“If you say so...” Nanami turned around to leave. “Good night.”

Hinata nodded back. “You should go to bed soon, too.”

Nanami pouted. “Don’t worry, I will. After I get to the next chapter.”

Hinata chuckled. “Don’t get too caught up in the next chapter.”

Nanami smiled back. “Ah!” She blinked in surprise as if she just noticed something, making Hinata face her curiously. “He left you something.” Nanami raised a finger to point to her neck to show him where. “There,” she said, giggling as she walked back to her room.

It felt like his face was on fire as Hinata reached up to his neck. He could feel a clear impression of Komaeda’s teeth that still lingered around on the patch of skin that was bitten.

Thank God, tomorrow was cold enough for a scarf.

* * *

Later that day, Hinata woke up as usual: get up, get ready for the day, squish into the train with all the other 9-5 workers/college students, and die a little inside between lectures. It was just like his schedule before he met Komaeda. In fact, he would’ve believed that it was just a normal day if it wasn’t for the bruise on his neck that constantly reminded him to keep the scarf on— no matter where he was, which sported him weird looks from his classmates when he entered a stuffy overheated room.

_'Doesn't want his models harmed, my ass...'_

No matter how normal Hinata’s Wednesday went, it felt a little odd. Komaeda never texted him. Ever since he gave his number to the eccentric, his phone would always be buzzing at least once a day with a message from Komaeda. Even though they just met, Hinata could honestly say that he probably texted Komaeda more in those five days than with Nanami in a month. One couldn’t scroll up to his first message with Komaeda in the text history without tiring out your thumb and switching to your index finger.

It was odd. Somehow, Komaeda had slowly crept his way into Hinata’s mundane routine.

The next day was the same. Hinata debated whether or not he should be the one to initiate the conversation this time. Before he could press ‘ _send_ ,’ though, Hinata chickened out. He had no idea what to say and he couldn’t just pretend that night didn’t happen. That wasn’t fair to Komaeda, nor was it fair to him.

Just before Hinata’s chemistry class started, Matsuda approached him with a conversation topic he hadn’t expected his lab partner to bring up. And it ended with a development that neither had expected.

When Matsuda entered the room, he sat in his seat by Hinata as usual; but, instead of taking out a comic book like Hinata expected his lab partner to do, he was smacked harshly on his shoulder by Matsuda.

“I told you it was a good idea to trust Seiko!”

Hinata put his phone down to give Matsuda his undivided attention as he glared at him.

“What are you talking about?” Hinata responded.

“Didn’t you check online? The professor gave us As.”

Hinata’s face relaxed when he heard that. Well at least that all-nighter wasn’t a complete waste then. Ignoring Matsuda, Hinata swerved around to face Kimura and Andou who sat behind them. When Hinata thanked the chemist major, her face lit up like Christmas lights at the mention of gratitude towards her.

“Hey, where’s my ‘ _thank you_?’” Matsuda asked when Hinata ignored him.

“Hmph! If we’re talking about thanking someone, you should all be thanking Ruruka.” A high pitched voice cut through their conversation.

“Huh?” Matsuda pointed an accusing finger at the overly pink girl. “You don’t ever do _shit_ , Ruruka.”

“What? Ruruka isn’t giving you any more macaroons to you, you manga freak!”

“U-uhm,” Kimura interjected before the argument got out of hand. “Actually, I was about to do the same thing as you guys before Ruruka-chan pointed out my mistake.”

Hinata and Matsuda looked at Kimura in disbelief, then back at Andou, disbelief still plastered onto their faces.

“It’s alright... You don’t have to lie to make her look helpful, Kimura-san... The professor isn’t here to hear us.” Hinata told Kimura softly.

“How dare you, Hina-chan, you traitor! You can kiss Ruruka’s mochi goodbye, too!”

“Ruruka-chan, please...”

Hinata laughed nervously. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” Hinata said as he tried to pacify her along with Kimura.

Matsuda nodded. “It’s hard to picture you being better at chemistry than Seiko.”

Andou crossed her arms and pouted. “Cooking requires a lot of chemistry, too!”

Kimura nodded her head fervently. “It was thanks to Ruruka-chan’s experiences with the chemical solutions that we passed...”

“Oh... Thanks, Andou-san.”

“Hmph! Maybe you can still get some of Ruruka’s sweets.”

Hinata wasn’t sure if he still wanted them anymore. Not when she could possibly start mixing questionable chemicals into her candies like Hanamura does with his food.

Matsuda only scoffed. “You’ll still be feeding them to us when your boyfriend gets sick.”

“Yoi-chan will never get sick of Ruruka’s sweets!”

“I think he’s talking about his health...” Kimura said quietly.

Andou huffed. “Ruruka will be watching his diet and you’re helping me, right, Seiko-chan?”

“Yes!” She beamed.

Matsuda rolled his eyes and turned back to Hinata while the girls discussed their own things.

“Speaking of boyfriends, Hinata, could you tell yours to chill?”

Hinata raised an eyebrow. “My, _what_?”

“Cat’s out of the closet, Hinata. Your boyfriend.”

“I don’t have one.”

“Uh-huh. Yeah. Well, _someone_ picked up your phone for you the other day when I called.”

“You called?” Hinata was just plain confused now as he listened to his lab partner.

“Yes, check your call log.” Hinata was already scrolling through his log as Matsuda said that. “Jeeze, I was only calling to tell you that the grades were up and he practically growled at me.”

Tuesday night. He was with Komaeda at that time. Did Komaeda pick up his phone while he was sleeping?

“Who were you with anyway?”

“The art student I told you about... Komaeda.”

“Komaeda Nagito?” Andou cut into their conversation when she heard the name. It sounded like she had a bone to pick with him, too. She said his name like it was some rotten disease.

“Yes... Do you know him?”

“Ew! Break up with him.”

Hinata blushed and let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m not going out with him.”

“Good, he’s an asshole! And, plus, he says he likes salty things over sweet stuff. Can you believe it?”

Thinking back at Komaeda’s meal choices: yes. Yes, he could believe it.

“How do you know him?” Hinata asked again.

“He was in one of Yoi-chan’s classes. And you know that Ruruka loves passing out her candies to everyone she meets. Well, that guy was no different. So, Ruruka gave him her special award-winning candies and talked about some of Yoi-chan’s knives that were on display at that time.”

Andou’s face turned sour.

“And then, just before he left, he threw out Ruruka’s precious candies in front of her.”

Uh, what?

“Are you sure we’re talking about the same Komaeda? White hair, tall?” Hinata could barely believe his ears. He just couldn’t imagine Komaeda doing something that rude; to throw away a gift given to him _in front of the person who gave him the gift_...

“Yeah! He’s totally two-faced!”

“You know, I’ll listen to this ugly pink girl here, Hinata. You know how they say ‘it takes one to know one.’” Matsuda leaned in to whisper harshly into Hinata’s ear. “Have you _seen_ the difference between the way she treats Izayoi and us?”

“Who are you calling ugly, you—?!”

Hinata sighed. “Come on, guys, you barely even know him.”

“Honestly? I don’t want to. You shoulda heard his tone on the phone.”

“Hinata-san, maybe you should just be wary just in case...” Kimura said softly, compared to the loud duo next to him.

“Trust me. He’s crazy.”

“Uh-huh.” Hinata smirked at Matsuda mockingly. “You know, I don’t think it’s too late to change your major.”

“You cheeky bastard...”

“What’s up, Otaku-Boy? Your own brain can’t keep up with neuroscience?”

“And look! There’s the professor!” Kimura intervened again before the two could start another argument.

* * *

Friday came and he still hasn’t heard from Komaeda. Granted, Hinata hadn’t tried to contact the other either... Maybe he’ll think of something to say later.

Hinata sighed quietly as he made his last round of tours scheduled today. The last group was a crowd of rowdy middle schoolers who were all- while interested in the art- were all interested in asking the... less orthodox questions. Even with the more popular artists’ works.

_‘Hah! Is that a huge booger on that guy’s nose?’_ (Salvador Dali)

_‘Ooh! I draw comics too, can you guys print mine like that too?’_ (Roy Lichtenstein)

_‘That woman’s ass looks like my horse stick’s saddle at home.’_ (Lisa Yuskavage)

And Hinata’s favourite:

_‘Is that a gallon of bleach as mouthwash?’_ (Stuart Davis)

Hinata wished the teachers the best of luck in teaching these children. He watched the adults try to wrestle them back in line. They’ll need as much luck as they could get in the future.

Just before Hinata left the staff lounge, his manager called out to him.

“Ah! Hold on a second, Hinata-kun!”

“Yes, Manager Kizakura?”

His manager was a middle aged man who dressed like he was in a pop idol band everyday with his attention-grabbing white fedora and fancy semi-formal suits. It’s a wonder where he got the guts to wear that stuff to work at his age.

“I’ll let you go home early today if you do me a favour.” The man took a sip from his tin flask.

Hinata cocked his head slightly. “What do you need, sir?”

“Well, you see this envelope here...” Kizakura motioned to the manila envelope in his other hand. “It needs to be delivered to a certain artist today and the post offices close up soon, so I’ll like you to deliver it to him in person.”

There was no doubt in Hinata’s mind that his manager probably just procrastinated far too long again and was now trying to get Hinata to help him. Hinata glanced out towards the window. It started getting cloudy this afternoon, and now it looks like it was about to rain. Heading home before it rains seems like a good idea. He was pretty sure he forgot his umbrella anyways.

“Where does he live?”

“Great! I asked you because you live at the Jabberwock Plaza. He lives there too!” The blond shoved the envelope into Hinata’s hands and started pushing Hinata out of the lounge. “You can leave now, the address and name is on the envelope, so just get it to him before seven, please. Overtime pay.”

Kizakura left in a hurry before Hinata could say another word to him. The brunet sighed. There was nothing else he could do now but to deliver the envelope to... Hinata looked down to read the address written down.

_N. Kuōn._

The museum’s current cash cow. No wonder his manager seemed panicked. Whatever that was inside this yellow envelope was probably urgent. Hinata tucked it into his bag and made his towards the station.

* * *

_No way._

Hinata looked at his phone displaying a Google map of the address he was assigned to visit. He knew the numbers on the envelope looked familiar. But, Hinata just thought that was a coincidence that he thought that. After all, the streets and numbers around the plaza could get quite confusing sometimes, even for locals, or so he heard from his landlord.

But, anyways, back to the Google map page. It showed that he has indeed arrived at the designated building and looking at the number plate on the door, he was definitely in front of the right door.

But, he was also definitely standing on the other side of this door two days ago. Modelling. For Komaeda. _What?_ Did he... have a roommate? No... He only had one bed... Unless... No... Hinata decided to just stop thinking about it and rang the doorbell.

A few seconds later, he could hear Komaeda’s voice behind the door telling him to wait. Well, that solved the mystery of whether or not this was really the same studio that belonged to Komaeda. Hinata had to wait a few more minutes before the door opened. He could see that the albino was taken by surprise too when he finally emerged from the other side.

“Surprise...” Hinata said with a small wave of his hand.

Komaeda’s hair was messier than ever, with splotches of paint stuck on his white hair, making it stand out more. The mess didn’t end there. His shirt and pants weren’t free from whatever wrath Komaeda had incurred from his paints. His face and hands were wet as if he had just washed them to open the door.

“You’re not the pizza delivery...” Komaeda muttered. His eyes were still widened in shock as he stared at Hinata. Hinata felt like Komaeda was more shocked about him being at his doorstep than Hinata was about Komaeda being the famous cursed painter.

“No... No, I am not...”

The two froze in shock— both for entirely different reasons.

“Want to come in?”

Hinata nodded and Komaeda stepped away briefly for Hinata to enter. While Hinata took off his shoes at the entrance, Komaeda went back to the living room to cover a canvas with a piece of cloth to prevent the paint from getting damaged.

“I didn’t think you’ll want to see me again after last time...” Komaeda looked away with an unreadable expression while running his hands through his messy hair and getting his fingers covered in paint again.

“I won’t stop talking to you just because of that...” Hinata searched through his bag and took out a small packet of tissues. He dragged Komaeda to the sofa by pinching a part of the boy’s shirt that was spared by the mess of paint and sat them both down. “Besides,” Hinata continued to speak as he started to wipe the paint off Komaeda’s fingers. “It made me happy to hear that...” The brunet pretended to be absorbed in the menial task of cleaning Komaeda’s hand as he avoided the other’s gaze.

Hinata was suddenly pulled into a hug by Komaeda. He could feel the cold paint from Komaeda’s hair leaving strokes of colour on his pink tinted cheeks. He slowly returned the hug and Hinata could feel Komaeda burying his head into the crook of his neck, smearing more paint on his face, neck, and clothes. Hopefully Komaeda had some tips for getting this paint off his clothes later. When Hinata felt lips trailing his neck, he abruptly pulled Komaeda away.

“A-anyways, I came to deliver something to you...” Hinata showed him the manila envelope. Komaeda took it, looking at the envelope briefly before looking back at Hinata with his mouth hung open.

“I’ll let him know.”

Hinata narrowed his eyes at Komaeda. “It’s important according to my manager, so I’ll like to see him and give it to him in person.” Hinata moved his hand towards the envelope in an attempt to grab it away from Komaeda. The latter moved his hand away before Hinata could make a grab for it.

“He’s going to come back pretty late, so it’s probably best if you don’t wait for him.”

“That’s okay. You’ll walk me home anyways, right?” Hinata smirked. If Komaeda wanted to play this game, then Hinata just has to win.

“Who knows? He might not even return tonight.”

Hinata rolled his eyes. “Are you really trying to sell me the idea that you have a roommate? You have _one_ bed and _one_ chair, for God’s sake.”

“...When did you find out?”

“Just now. At your doorstep.”

Komaeda looked away. “Are you disappointed?”

The question bewildered Hinata. “Should I be?”

“Every painting I’ve sold ends up ruining someone’s life. And yet, here I am, still painting.”

Hinata frowned. He knew the stories. It was his job to know. It was only paintings he sold that had terrible outcomes. For example, paintings that were recovered in house fires with no monetary recompense had no drawbacks, like the painting that hung in his wing of the museum. The ‘curse’ seemed to be only a one-time thing.

“I recall you telling me that it was necessary to keep painting after your parents deaths.”

Komaeda flinched. “I’m honoured you remember.”

“So, I’m sure you have a good reason, no matter what it is...”

“Do you want to know?”

Hinata nodded. “I want to learn more about you... But, you can tell me when you’re ready.”

Komaeda smiled gently and smudged some of the paint marks left on Hinata’s face with his thumb in an attempt to clear the paint from his sullied face.

“Was that a confession?”

“Huh?”

“When you want to know more about someone, you date them, am I wrong?”

“W-well, uhm...” Hinata looked flustered as he realised what he said.

_‘Be careful.’_

_‘He’s a two-faced asshole.’_

His friends’ warnings came to mind as he thought about it. Looking up, he could see Komaeda’s patient smile. He looked anything but dangerous.

_‘Two-faced.’_

_‘Weird.’_

He was weird, no doubt, but a nice kind of weird. Was he really a backstabbing weasel, though? Komaeda had been nothing but kind to him, but that’s what backstabbers do, right? Hinata searched Komaeda’s eyes. No, Hinata trusted Komaeda. Hinata felt nothing but sincerity from the other male in the past week. And, while it hasn’t been very long, Hinata felt drawn to him. He’s never met someone so kind to him, so thoughtful towards him... So loving towards him. And he was all those even after learning Hinata’s major flaws.

Hinata didn’t trust his own voice, so he just nodded an affirmation, instead. The one thing you needed in a relationship was trust and Hinata decided to do exactly that. Trust Komaeda.

“So, is that a yes?”

Hinata leaned into Komaeda and cupped his face before giving him a definitive answer. “It is.” Hinata smiled as he pecked Komaeda on the lips.

Just as Hinata leaned away, Komaeda leaned back in.

“I’m so glad, I’m so glad, I’m so glad...” Komaeda repeated it like a mantra as he peppered kisses along Hinata’s face.

“Komaeda?” The way he was acting was starting to worry Hinata again.

“I’m sorry.” He said as he pulled Hinata closer to him. “I’m just so happy.” The nibbling on Hinata’s ear was able to distract the brunet while Komaeda slipped a hand under his shirt. “I can finally say you’re mine...”

A harsh bite on Hinata’s bottom lip forced the brunet’s lips to part, giving Komaeda space to slip a tongue in. The hand trailing over his stomach and the stray wisps of hair brushing against his face made Hinata want to burst into a fit a giggles. Hinata decided not to ruin the mood as he tried to stifle the laughter. He distracted himself by treading his fingers through Komaeda’s hair and rubbing out the clotting paint. Komaeda moaned at the simple action making Hinata smile and continue massaging Komaeda’s scalp.

Hinata could feel Komaeda climbing over him. The artist’s nimble fingers caressed the exposed skin where his shirt had ridden up. Hinata’s breath hitched when Komaeda suddenly pressed his body weight onto him, making him sink further into the plush back cushions of the couch.

“Komaeda...” Hinata moaned out his name. Said male looked back into Hinata’s eyes, letting the brunet see the unrestrained lust glazing over Komaeda’s faded green eyes. Hinata was the first to break eye contact, cupping his partner’s face and planting another kiss on Komaeda’s lips. Hinata gently caressed, nibbled and sucked on the pale lips, alternating occasionally between the top and bottom lips. Komaeda’s fingers are ghosting over Hinata’s torso, tracing a crooked path towards the nether regions of the boy under him.

Hinata could hear a soft _bzzt_ echoing through the walls of the studio in recesses of his mind. After the third buzz, he could hear someone knocking loudly and yelling through the entrance door.

Hinata laughed softly as he detached his mouth from Komaeda’s.

“I think _that’s_ your pizza delivery.”

Komaeda only sighed and nuzzled his head into the crook of Hinata’s neck in response.

“...Not hungry anymore.”

“Come on, you already ordered it. Don’t let the poor guy just stand there.” Hinata began pushing Komaeda off as he teasingly scolded the latter.

Komaeda groaned as he rolled off and watched Hinata head towards the door.

The face that met Hinata was not a happy one. The delivery boy was scowling at him the moment he opened the door. Hinata nervously apologised and chucked a piece of hair behind his ear to hide behind his hand as he accepted the receipt. Quickly calculating a 20% tip to the total price, Hinata pulled out a little more, deciding that the boy earned it for waiting so patiently instead of leaving at the first ring. Just before Hinata could accept the pizza box, a thin arm encircled his waist, pulling him back by surprise while the other arm took the pizza.

“Bye,” Komaeda said to the delivery boy and shut the door with his foot promptly after. Before Hinata could say anything, Komaeda asked if Hinata would stay for dinner with him. Looking out the window, he could see small droplets of water starting to drizzle down the window of Komaeda’s studio. He should leave before it starts raining harder.

He felt a pair of lips brush the side of his temple.

“I’m sorry it’s nothing special— just extra cheese pizza.”

Hinata chuckled softly. “I’ll love to, but I should get going before it starts raining too hard.”

“At least eat what you paid for,” Komaeda tried again, but Hinata declined and shook his head. “Then, let me pay you back.” Komaeda momentarily let go of Hinata to set the box down and grab his wallet.

“It’s fine. If we’re going to be dating, at least let me pay the little things for you.”

Komaeda blushed at the declaration. He had planned to force Hinata to stay by making him choose between letting him pay the brunet back for the pizza, or to stay here and eat with him. But, hearing Hinata say the status of their relationship out loud momentarily froze his thoughts in place. Hinata acknowledged _them_ dating. Just between them. Their own private relationship.

Hinata on the other hand, watched as Komaeda stop dead in his tracks. Wide eyed with a light blush on his cheeks after hearing what he had just told his boyfriend. It was funny, Hinata thought — that compared to everything Komaeda did, _that_ was what he was blushing from. Hinata let out a soft laugh at that thought, breaking Komaeda out of the trance as well.

Komaeda coughed lightly to clear his throat. “I still owe you for last time, anyways,” Komaeda said as he fished out two twenties and a ten from his wallet.

“Oh.” Hinata replied in recognition. He totally forgot about the payment he was supposed to receive after... that night. “Thanks.”

Komaeda smiled. “Of course! A job is a job.”

The patter on the window grew louder as the rain started beating down harder. Hinata looked out the window momentarily, scanning the ground for people with umbrellas or people running for shelter, anything that would indicate whether or not the rain was a terrible hindrance to them at the moment. It seemed like no one was hurriedly opening up umbrellas, so it was probably still alright, but he didn’t want to push his luck.

“I should really get going now before the rain starts pouring.”

Komaeda breathed out a sigh. He still felt reluctant to let go, but he couldn’t think of a good enough excuse to make Hinata stay. Instead, Komaeda settled on insisting that he’ll walk Hinata home, only for that to be rejected by Hinata as well. Hinata worried that it’ll start being a real storm with harsh winds and with heavier drops of rain during Komaeda’s walk back to the studio. Along with the still-warm pizza and the painting he had to finish, Hinata actually built a pretty solid case against him.

Komaeda couldn’t help the disappointed pout on his face as he walked Hinata down towards the lobby to see him off. Hinata stifled a laugh when he saw the look on the other’s face.

“I’ll—pft— see you tomorrow?” Hinata asked.

Komaeda nodded and leaned in to give Hinata a peck. “Text me when you’re back.”

Hinata blushed and looked away. “...Not in public,” he said as he readjusted his scarf. Hinata lied. He didn’t really care that Komaeda kissed him in the public space of the lobby. He felt embarrassed, but happy. Happy that Komaeda wasn’t afraid of letting people know about their relationship. Hinata muttered a ‘ _thanks_ ’ before turning around to leave.

* * *

Komaeda was disappointed.

It has been one week since Hinata had agreed to be his boyfriend. It has also been three days since he he’d seen his boyfriend... Hinata still agreed to model for him, but due to their recent schedules, they’ve only been able to do quick one hour sessions on campus.

Komaeda concluded that Hinata probably felt somewhat nervous about being naked in his studio now that he was not making decisions on the fly from a lack of sleep. Komaeda was fine with that. Hinata would be in the right to be wary of stripping in front of him again.

But, he hasn’t seen Hinata in the past three days. Just how long did Hinata intend to be with his study group? He remembers his Hinata telling him how he was going to be too busy to model for the next couple days due to the upcoming midterms, but... It felt like he couldn’t even catch Hinata on a break. The other boy would always cancel; either saying he already ate with other people or was about to. The message usually ended with Hinata saying something like: “ _Sorry, enjoy your lunch, though!_ ”

Enjoy his lunch? Enjoy it while knowing his boyfriend was eating with other people? That he chose _them_ over _him_?

_Snap._

The wooden brush broke in half from the gradual strain that his robotic hand was asserting on the brush. The wood was splintered unevenly and Komaeda could see a few splinters escaping the fracture as it washed down the drain, following the faucet’s water current and adding to the paint that clogged the drain’s net.

Stupid.

It was stupid that even after using this hand for so many years, he still lost control of it sometimes. Absolutely unfortunate that it’s happened twice in one month. Perhaps he needed to take it back to the shop for maintenance. He’ll rather not, though. He already had his annual maintenance and quite recently as well too. Komaeda sighed. He was probably just applying too much pressure.

He threw the broken brush away and turned off the water flow before turning around and heading back towards his living area where he left his newest painting dry. It was a commissioned piece from some wealthy heir for his fiancée. The idiot must be extremely bored or just ignorant to order a painting from him right before their wedding. A high pitched cackle escaped his lips as he thought of all the possible ways his patron may receive his bad luck.

Perhaps he’ll find the real love of his life right before the wedding? Maybe his fiancée will cheat on him? Or maybe his fiancée was just a swindler all along, and plans to kill him so she could inherit everything! Komaeda snickered. Hypothesizing about how his luck would come to play was always entertaining. He could hardly wait to read about them in the papers. The best part was that he’ll be free of this incoming bad luck of his. Once this painting is officially bought and received by the dumbass who wanted it, he’ll have nothing but good luck, at least, for a while. He’ll finally stop having these sporadic bursts of bad luck being flung at him—the bad luck that kept Hinata from being fully his. It really was about time he did something about that.

* * *

On Monday, Komaeda received a notification from his bank stating that the rest of the payment has gone through, meaning his painting has been safely delivered. Komaeda smiled. He could already feel the luck flowing in. The skies are no longer pouring, the sun is out, and he has already received a message from Hinata. Komaeda’s smile grew wider when he read the text. Hinata had just finished his last midterm and was finally free, meaning he could finally spend time with Hinata. Things were seemingly brighter already. All it costed was a week’s time of painting and some man’s soon-to-be-ruined wedding.

Maybe this would be a good time to ask Hinata to go somewhere on a date with him? If he saw more of Hinata’s different sides, perhaps even he could hope to capture it in his magnum opus that would be Hinata. Faces were never his favourite things to draw. In fact, in all his paintings, there was not one distinct face. All the faces were either obscured or completely hidden behind something. If someone wanted to know what the subjects in his paintings were feeling, he or she would have to stay, look a little harder. Like Hinata had.

Hinata was a lot like his paintings, when he thought about it. The brunet was hidden under so many layers that Komaeda would need to spend a while to figure out. Perhaps that was part of the connection he felt.

Komaeda was determined. He’ll put an emotion on that face, finally— something that he could clearly see and give him hope.

* * *

Hinata would be lying if he said he wasn’t surprised when he read Komaeda’s offer to go out for a celebration in finishing the exams. He thought it over for a few seconds before replying. He hadn’t seen Komaeda in a few days because of their schedules and Hinata honestly missed the other a bit. Hinata found himself smiling at the thought of Komaeda being so considerate. While they kept in contact, texting one another was different from seeing each other.

Hinata accepted the offer and asked what Komaeda wanted to do, which, to Hinata’s surprise again, was not what he expected as a response:

_Just meet me by the west gate closest to the parking lot around 5:30, if you can._

Hinata was both terrified and amused by how much Komaeda wanted to avoid the topic of ‘where’ but decided to let the albino keep his secret for now. He’ll know eventually.

When he arrived at the meeting place, Hinata won’t lie— it felt like a kidnapping. Before he could say ‘hi,’ he was assaulted by a hug from the scrawny male and pulled promptly into the passenger seat of a Prius. Maybe it was due to Komaeda’s capricious personality, but Hinata imagined Komaeda owning a much flashier car. Komaeda laughed heartily when Hinata mentioned it.

“Driving such a gaudy thing is like asking to get robbed for someone like me.”

Hinata was briefly confused about the last part of the sentence, but figured Komaeda just meant his status as an infamous artist.

Midway through the drive, Hinata started recognising some of the signs and roads.

“Towa City?” It sounded more like a statement when it came out of Hinata’s mouth. He recognised the great bridge they were on as one of Towa’s famed sites, being a bridge that stretched across a piece of the ocean towards many other large cities; truly, one of the greatest advancements done by modern day architects and civil engineering teams.

Komaeda nodded. “I thought maybe we could check out the Riverside. They start putting up the Christmas stalls every year around November.”

Hinata was appalled. “...It’s barely been a week since November started.”

Komaeda laughed. “It’s always a large spectacle at the end of the year, so there’s no harm in starting early!”

“Isn’t it better to go in December when they’re done with all the decorations, then?”

“Hmm... I suppose so, but wouldn’t you like to see the changes from the start of the festival phase to the end of it?”

Hinata wondered if it would really be so interesting. There was a twinkle in Komaeda’s eye when he mentioned the drastic changes that the festive committee had come up with during their two month planning in the past years that he’s visited.

Hinata smiled at the avid descriptions that Komaeda recounted to him. “Let’s make sure to come here again in December, then.”

Komaeda smiled back and muttered a word of agreement before turning his attention back to the road ahead of him. Hinata leaned back to his seat as they continued with their idle chatter.

Hinata learned that Komaeda’s trust in his luck was sky-high when the pale man told him how he spent practically the entire week painting his new piece instead of studying for his own exams. And when Komaeda told him that he passed all the exams regardless, Hinata couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed but sighed in resignation. Hope’s Peak was a school that attracted many talented students, so it wasn’t really surprising if you found a genius who didn’t need to study.

Komaeda rambled on about the city until they reached the exit sign; where the best restaurant was, where the busiest commercial areas were and when to avoid those places so they won’t get pick-pocketed, tourist favourites, where to shop for the best prices, among other things. Komaeda turned out to be quite the aficionado of the city sights, much to Hinata’s surprise. Komaeda chuckled when Hinata complimented him on his knowledge and responded saying he was only a layman in matter. Somehow, this eased the shock for Hinata when Komaeda told him that he used to live in Towa City in passing. It would certainly explain how he knew the city so well. But, Hinata thought it was still pretty impressive. Towa was famous for its leading technological advances, making it an ideal place for many companies and by extension, real estate agents. With the rise of businesses hiring various people in various fields, the amount of residential areas that had to be built rose higher and higher. To be put bluntly: just finding a place to live was a horror story.

“How did you even find a place stay?”

“I got lucky! Apparently, my parents had commissioned a bunch of apartments to be made before they died and they finally finished construction on my fifteenth birthday. I wasn’t allowed to move in by myself since I was still a minor by law, but I kept a penthouse for myself so I could move in when I turned eighteen.”

So, this guy basically landed himself a free ride to life already—a free, _nice,_ place to live and a constant flow of income from his tenants’ rent money. Hinata couldn’t understand why Komaeda still needed to paint. He thought it was for money, but it’s obvious that Komaeda was secured for life in that department. If it was just a hobby, then that wouldn’t explain why Komaeda would absolutely _need_ to paint. Hinata found himself staring towards the driver’s seat as he mulled over these thoughts.

_Luck truly is amazing_.

* * *

The Riverside was much more than what Komaeda had credited it for. Well technically, it was a clearing next to the Riverside, according to Komaeda, but most people considered it as part of the Riverside. Holiday lights hung from the roofs of each stall, connecting the stalls with each other. The leafless trees that were bare for the winter had their own lights intertwined with the branches with a few of the ornate lights dangling down some branches to emulate wisteria vines. It seemed as though not a single spot was left unilluminated, leaving Hinata’s eyes wide in awe at the scene in front of him. The place looked fully decorated already in his eyes, save for the few empty stalls that were yet to be occupied.

“Did they really just start with the decorating recently?” Hinata scanned the area again, focusing more on the stalls this time as he noted the items being sold. There were a variety of things: scarves, phone charms, pet accessories, home and kitchenware, cider drinks, pastries, wines, just to name a few.

Komaeda nodded. “They still have a lot to do.” He pointed a finger down the lane of stalls towards a large evergreen. “For example, that.” The tree was, for the most part, still green and undecorated. A ladder was left abandoned leaning on the side where the workers must have left it for the next day.

It had barely registered in Hinata’s mind that Komaeda had taken his hand and started leading him down the centre of all the stalls, where the tree was. The shops had fanned out like a circle with the Christmas tree as its midpoint. Hinata briefly thought about recommending the place to Koizumi for one of her photo shoots. But, only briefly. Komaeda’s enthusiastic attitude as he dragged Hinata from store to store made it impossible for any thought not relating to the present to stay in his mind.

“How is it, Hinata-kun?”

“Mmm...” Hinata took another sip at his apple cider. It definitely tasted home-brewed and not quite like the store bought bottles he had before. “Good. Better than the ones in store. How about yours?” Hinata glanced over at the other. Komaeda had ordered one with a weird name...

“Pretty good! Want to try?”

“No thanks. And drink a little slower, the lady said there was more alcohol added than usual.”

“Are you worried?” Komaeda his face closer as he said this.

Hinata averted his eyes. “...Who’s going to drive us back if you get drunk?”

It was silent for a while as Komaeda stared at Hinata. “That’s a good face. I’d like to pain—”

A loud crash and a scream turned everyone’s heads towards the large Christmas tree. There was more shouting when everyone realised what happened. The ladder on the tree had tipped over and it was crushing a man who had hovered over a child, protecting the small boy. The men closest to the scene shouted for help with getting the ladder off the two.

“I have medical training!” Hinata shouted as he dashed towards the scene. The people who heard him moved out of his way, clearing a crooked path for Hinata and Komaeda.

“I’m okay,” Hinata heard the man under the ladder speak. “The ladder wasn’t quite as heavy as it looked.” As if to prove his statement, once the ladder was off him, the man started flexing his back and waist muscles along with a few arm exercises to show that he could still move them.

Hinata thought it was strange that he had recognised the voice that called out before from under the ladder, but now that he saw the man’s face, he realised that he did indeed know this man.

“Dad.”

* * *

_‘Dad.’_

Hinata sat in one of the many fairy-tale themed restaurants of where Komaeda called the _‘True Riverside,’_ the original one before they started expanding the place. Komaeda had been kind enough to let him think by himself while the former went to order food. There was a long line of customers which will give Hinata ample time to sort his thoughts out.

Hinata crinkled his brow. He was really grateful that Komaeda excused the both of them from conversing any longer with his father and his...

Does he still call him dad? _Can_ he still call him his dad? Would it be better not to?

> _“Dad? Is my daddy your daddy too?”_
> 
> The small child that his father held protectively spoke up, visibly startling Hinata with his words. Soon after, a woman ran to them, calling out his father’s name and what he assumed to be the child’s name as well. Hinata wasn’t sure. He wasn’t really paying much attention. He only stared at his father— a single question reflected in his eyes: _‘Who are they?’_
> 
> The child tugged on his— their? — father’s hand and the older man returned the action by holding the smaller hand in a gentle grip. Hinata shifted his feet. He couldn’t remember the last time he held hands with his dad, if ever.
> 
> Hinata could vaguely register his dad introducing the other two fondly. The brunet could only glance at the mother and child. He looked at them, but didn’t really _look_ at them, their features were a blur in his mind and if he saw them again, he was sure that he wouldn’t recognise them. His father was getting remarried soon. His mother already knew and they had the divorce papers already being prepared by seasoned lawyers.
> 
> _When were they going to tell him?_
> 
> Apparently, Hinata had accidently said it out loud, causing his father’s voice to falter.
> 
> He explained to Hinata that he wanted to tell him after he was done with his current semester at the academy ‘so to not upset his work flow—’ as his father had put it. But, since they were here, he might as well introduce them to Hinata. They said their names and Hinata gave them the perfect smile as he greeted them back. He already forgot their names, though.
> 
> His father started babbling about how they should all eat together and how he ‘hoped for them all to get along as family.’ Ironically, Hinata didn’t think his father ever sat with him at the dinner table when he was a child. His father even invited Komaeda to come along— did Hinata introduce Komaeda to him yet? He couldn’t remember. But, judging from the conversation at hand, it seemed like Komaeda must’ve introduced himself while Hinata was spacing out. Thankfully, Komaeda declined his father’s offer for them, sensing Hinata’s growing unease. He and Komaeda left after his father promised to call him about the wedding soon. He didn’t want to hear about it now, and for once, he felt happy about his father’s forgetfulness towards him. He was sure ‘soon’ meant maybe two months before the big ceremony.

Hinata continued to tap absentmindedly on his phone at some puzzle app game. He felt like a coward. He couldn’t face the facts, so he ran. Maybe if he stayed, he could’ve opened up to the idea more. But, at that moment, he felt eternally grateful for Komaeda’s rescue. Now that he’s calmed down and looked at the situation with a more levelled head, it was probably rude towards the woman and child— both of whom he could not remember the faces of or names.

“—Hinata-kun.”

_Hinata_. That was his current surname. But if his father remarries then, should he change it too? To what? His mother was probably going to change it back to Kamukura. Should he change it to that too?

Hinata only acknowledged Komaeda’s presence when he felt his phone being ripped from his hands. _When did he get here?_

Komaeda whistled playfully as he started tapping away at Hinata’s screen. “This game is actually pretty hard once you reach such a high level, huh?”

Hinata looked up and saw that the albino had come back and placed the tray of food at their table.

“Oh, thanks,” Hinata muttered when Komaeda pushed a bowl towards him. He could see that Komaeda was still tapping away at his phone with a frown as he tried to figure the puzzle out. The expression on the other male’s face made Hinata crack a smile.

“Do you need help with that one?” Hinata asked, as he gestured to his phone in Komaeda’s hands. He was playing that game where the objective was to free the red block by rearranging the array of blocks. Hinata was pretty close to solving the puzzle before it was taken from him and it seemed like Komaeda must’ve messed it up.

“Hmm... I think I swiped the blocks around so much that the red block just glitched right through, haha.”

...Glitched? Did he... break his phone? Komaeda laughed nervously and handed the phone back to Hinata. Looking at his phone, he could see all the blocks blocking the exit, meaning it really did glitch out. Well, his phone seems to work fine, though, so at least it’s not broken.

“You really do have the weirdest luck.”

“It’s at its highest peak today,” Komaeda responded as he broke his chopsticks in half. Something about that comment made Hinata laugh. It would be great if even an ounce of that luck affected him today too. Really, to think that he’ll run into his father and his mistress here today... Maybe Komaeda’s luck did affect him. He was glad he had Komaeda by his side when that happened. If he wasn’t there, Hinata was sure he’ll fuck something up after accepting his father’s proposal to dine together.

“Thanks for before.”

Komaeda looked over at Hinata who avoided the gaze in embarrassment.

“Don’t worry about it,” Komaeda replied.

* * *

Komaeda had no idea why he was being thanked. Well, he had a clue, but he hadn’t expected to be thanked for it. Was Hinata really that happy about being pulled away from finally being given the chance to reconnect with his family? He didn’t understand. But it worked well for him, regardless. He just wanted to spend time with Hinata. Alone.

He thought that maybe Hinata would be angry at him instead, which was why he wanted to get them dinner while Hinata waited for him. He learned a long time ago that the way to calm an angry person was through appeasement. And when he came back, he saw that Hinata wasn’t even paying him any mind, instead focusing on the puzzle game in front of him. To make matters worse, Komaeda might’ve potentially broken Hinata’s phone when he touched it. Komaeda really thought that there was no way that Hinata would forgive him today, but as it turned out, Hinata wasn’t even mad from the start. Instead, he was being thanked by Hinata.

His luck was definitely at its peak today. He had said it sarcastically to himself, but thankfully, luck had his back. His luck surprises Komaeda even today, despite living with it for two decades.

“Komaeda, that’s too much soy sauce.”

“What?” Komaeda instantly responded. He could hear the alarm in Hinata’s voice and the worry that laced it. Looking down at his own bowl of noodles, he lifted his chopsticks and took a bite. “Just a bit more,” he said as he continued pouring the black liquid into the bowl. The sauce came out in small drops, so it took a while. It wasn’t like he was pouring a bucket in.

“That can’t be good for your health.” Hinata sighed and forced him to stop.

“Well then, if the doctor says so.” Komaeda sighed his own sigh and dug into his tasteless noodles.

“No. I’m sure _anyone_ would tell you that.”

Komaeda laughed at that. Would anyone, really?

“Maybe one’s love of salty things is inversely proportionate to one’s love of sweets?” Komaeda could hear Hinata mumbling about it under his breath as if he was solving a math problem.

“What is this? An experiment?” Komaeda joked, eliciting a laugh from Hinata.

“It’s nothing,” Hinata paused before giving a better explanation. “I was just thinking how similar you guys are.”

“Who?” Komaeda asked immediately— maybe too quickly because Hinata visibly flinched at Komaeda’s quick remark.

“—Ah... Do you remember Andou-san?”

Andou? Komaeda furrowed his brow as he tried to remember.

“She wears a lot of pink and gives candy to everyone.”

Oh, her.

“Ah! Izayoi-kun’s girlfriend?” Komaeda vaguely remembers meeting the over excited girl. Just once though, thankfully. If possible, he’ll rather not be left alone with her again.

Hinata nodded. “The number of sugar packets she pours in her coffee is just as bad as your soy sauce in your noodles.”

“Uhuh...”

“You don’t really like her, huh?”

Komaeda must’ve accidentally slipped on a face of displeasure at the conversation.

Well, it wasn’t quite so much that he didn’t like her, but rather she reminded him of one of the devils he had to babysit from his orphanage.

“Not really,” he replied finally. “She just reminds me of something troublesome. Did she say something about me?” The fact that Hinata knew that they’ve met meant that he must’ve mentioned him to his friends before and that swelled him with pride. On the other hand, learning that Andou was one of his friends was... unfortunate.

It took a moment before Hinata answered as if he was weighing options in his head and figuring out what to say. In the end, Hinata settled with a simple: _‘no’_ which left Komaeda wondering what the confectioner _really_ said. Komaeda sighed. He knew she was going to be someone troublesome to deal with. Just like that girl Kotoko.

“I don’t know what she said, but I’m happy you’re here.”

“No, well, she didn’t really say anything. Besides, it’s not like she really knows you with just one meeting.”

Komaeda’s eyes widened. “Huh? Do you trust me that much?”

Hinata laughed at that comment. Maybe he should’ve worded that better.

“Don’t say things that’ll make you sound suspicious,” Hinata says as he grabs Komaeda’s hand from across the table. “I trust you, okay?” Hinata squeezes his hand gently and smiles up at Komaeda’s bewildered face.

“Hinata-kun.”

“Yeah?”

“Hinata-kun.” Hinata. Hinata. Hinata, Hinata, Hinata. Komaeda was happy beyond words as he returned Hinata’s gesture and held the brunet’s hand back in a firm grip. Even though he knew it was just his luck that allowed this exchange to happen, he was still delighted to a guilty degree. Eventually, his happiness reached a point where he could finally put into coherent words. “Want to skip class tomorrow?”

He could tell that while he succeeded in making a coherent question, the context was obscure as balls as he watched Hinata’s face contort into surprise, and then into pure confusion, and finally into a resigned annoyance.

“You know, not everyone can go without studying like you.”

“It’s just one day. It’ll be fine!”

“To begin with, I don’t even know where this question is coming from—”

Komaeda pulled Hinata towards him and leaned in halfway to meet his lips. The sudden action caused some of the noodle soup to get splattered on him and the table, but he didn’t care. What he did care about was dragging Hinata out to his car and back to his apartment in Towa.

“Let’s go.”

“H-huh?”

Komaeda smiled at Hinata’s beet red face. He could swear that he could feel the heat from Hinata’s cheeks from where he was. Or maybe it was his own cheeks that were burning up. It didn’t matter, not at the moment. For now, he should just take this chance and lead Hinata back to his car while the brunet was still in shock. And he did just that.

“Where are we going?” Hinata finally spoke once they were on the road again.

“I want to show you the view from my place.”

“Your place? The apartment you were talking about before?”

Komaeda nodded in confirmation. “We’re almost there.”

When they arrived, it took a second before Komaeda’s eyes got used to the bright lights that bounced off the white tiles and the white walls of the lobby. It’s been a while since he came back and he momentarily forgot about the blinding decor of the place— especially after coming inside from the dim outside lights.

He could tell that Hinata experienced the same problem, despite not verbally announcing it. His eyes squinted and his thin brows arched down in a natural response to being exposed to the harsh lights. Komaeda chuckled at that.

“Sorry, I don’t control the interior designing of this place.”

“Ah... No, I don’t think it’s terrible...”

“Haha, don’t worry about it. I hate it too.”

They shared a smile together before heading up in the elevator.

“It’s clean...” Hinata said softly when they went inside.

“Well, I have someone come and do some cleaning every month while I’m away.” But, it really was clean, with no layers of dust anywhere. The cleaners must have done it recently. Lucky.

Hinata laughed and Komaeda looked over at him in confusion.

“Sorry,” he said in between a few chuckles. “—It’s just that it’s such a far cry from your flat in Jabberwock.”

Komaeda laughed along as he thought back to the way Hinata first reacted to his studio compared to now.

“Yeah,” he said. “It is.” Komaeda stepped towards Hinata, walking behind the brunet and placed his hands on the latter’s shoulders. Gently, he pushed Hinata towards the large windows of the penthouse and watched as Hinata’s eyes light up in amazement and wonder.

“This is...” The brunet started. His eyes were still glued to the city view below him, watching the bright artificial lights contrasting the natural darkness of the night. The cars below them zipped away on the Great Bridge that could still be visible despite the night due to the endless traffic that cluttered the city. “The City of Falling Stars,” Hinata finally peeled his eyes away from the scenery and looked back at Komaeda. “This is where you painted it, wasn’t it?”

Komaeda smiled. “I knew you’d get it.”

“Well, it’s a little obscure with its name, but once you see this view, it becomes pretty obvious.”

“Not at all.” _The City of Falling Stars_ was the first piece that made his name known. He painted the all the traffic lights including the trails of light that the cars would leave behind as they sped away and then turned his canvas upside-down to create the ‘falling stars.’ And then, instead of drawing a sky, he drew a watery surface, reflecting the street and tail lights of the cars. People would never guess where the ‘city’ actually was. “I’ve seen some of the theses on it, and I’m not impressed.”

Hinata rolled his eyes. “Twenty, and making history.” Hinata looked out at the night skyline again. “So? Why did you want to show me this? I work in an art museum, I don’t live for it.”

Komaeda laughed at Hinata’s sarcastic comment. “Well, this was a view my parents left me.”

* * *

“Ah…” Hinata was speechless. That’s right… He did say that it was his parents who commissioned the buildings during the long car ride, didn’t he… Hinata felt like he had accidentally said something insensitive by letting his sarcastic tongue run loose.

“Hmm…” Komaeda continued on. “I guess what I want to tell you is: it doesn’t matter what your parents give or don’t give you. In the end, you get to decide what to do with what they give you. And if there’s nothing, then there’s always a different solution to get to the end result. Like, factoring polynomials or rescheduling an exam. It doesn’t matter as long as the goal is accomplished.”

_‘What is received and what is not…’_

Hinata thought about Komaeda’s words. The man gave some diverse, and odd examples, but Hinata felt like he understood what Komaeda was getting at. In his own bizarre way, was Komaeda telling him to stop worrying about his parents’ approval? Hinata never noticed—or maybe he just didn’t want to admit it, but he’s still chasing after his parents’ affection.

Hinata sighed. “You’re right. I can’t be a kid forever, chasing after my parents.”

Maybe it was time to let go.

“You don’t need them.” Komaeda pointed a finger towards himself. “You have me.”

The moment those words left Komaeda, Hinata felt like a weight was lifted off his back. He could physically feel his posture relaxing like it hasn’t for years. He never knew how liberating it was to hear that from someone. It felt like he had a place in the world—with someone.

“Ha, ha…” Hinata choked out a laugh. “I never thought I’ll hear those words from you.”

“Was that an insult? I’m hurt—”

Instead of letting Komaeda finish his teasing statement, Hinata leaned in to wrap his arms around Komaeda.

“No, I’m glad it was from you,” Hinata said as he buried his head into the albino’s shoulder. He couldn’t contain his happiness as he practically crushed the other man’s skinny frame in his hug. Hinata was pleased when he felt Komaeda’s own arms snaking around him, returning the hug.

“Hinata-kun.”

“Hn?” Hinata breathed out a small sound of recognition, urging Komaeda to continue with whatever he wanted to say. It felt too comfortable in Komaeda’s arms right now for Hinata to want to look up and give Komaeda a proper response.

Komaeda was right. He didn’t need them. He had Komaeda.

_They_ certainly didn’t need him. Not like Komaeda.

_They_ certainly didn’t want him. Not like Komaeda.

And they _certainly didn’t_ see him the way Komaeda saw him.

Maybe if it was Komaeda… Maybe he could… love…

“Komaeda,” Hinata decided to speak when Komaeda fell silent. “What if I told you ‘I love you’ right now?”

Hinata thought for sure that he had said something wrong at first because Komaeda suddenly pushed them apart with so much force that it left Hinata stumbling for a bit as he relied on Komaeda’s hands on his shoulders for his sole support. Not a second later, however, he was pulled back in for a rough kiss.

Hinata’s first reaction to the kiss was that it fucking hurt when Komaeda forcibly bumped his teeth into his own. It probably hurt the albino too, but Komaeda didn’t miss a beat in sucking on his bottom lip for entrance, which Hinata granted just as hastily. Hinata could feel himself getting pulled into the other man’s pace as their breaths became laboured and their bodies growing warm from each other’s body heat in addition to the winter coats they had on. When they finally broke apart, Hinata felt like he was in a daze as he watched a flustered Komaeda panting like he had just ran all the way up from the first floor to his penthouse to meet him here. Not that Hinata was any better. Neither of them had remembered to breathe during the kiss.

“I…” Komaeda breathed out. He paused a bit to stabilize his breathing before continuing. “I would be the happiest man alive… And, I’ll ask you to stay the night here. And… I won’t take no for an answer, this time.”

Hinata’s face reddened further at the implication. “How…” Hinata swallowed thickly as he considered his next words. “How many beds do you have here?”

“Just one.”

“Okay,” Hinata said quietly.

“You love me, then?!” Komaeda asked in a burst of emotion. He couldn’t contain it any longer. He needed to hear it. He needed to hear it _from Hinata_.

“A-ah…” Hinata winced in pain when he felt a pressure on his arm.

Komaeda immediately let go. “I’m sorry, again—” Komaeda started to say.

Hinata cut him off with a soft laugh. “It’s fine. ‘Sometimes you forget the strength of your own hand…’ Right?”

“To remember the ramblings of someone like me…” Before Komaeda could finish his self-depreciating sentence, Hinata planted another kiss on Komaeda’s lips. He didn’t understand why Komaeda was saying such things about himself, but he wanted the other boy to realise how wrong that was. To Hinata, he wasn’t just another face. He was someone who accepted him— who wouldn’t discard him. No, that wasn’t true. It was still possible that he might still cast him aside. Hinata gripped harder at Komaeda’s jacket and pressed his face into shoulder opposite of him. He wanted this to last.

“I wouldn’t forget something about you.” Hinata wanted Komaeda to always be with him. Komaeda wrapped his own arms around Hinata and he instantly felt relaxed. “I love you, Komaeda,” Hinata whispered. Komaeda would’ve missed it if it wasn’t for the fact that Hinata was still buried into his shoulder.

Hinata could hear Komaeda gasp sharply in reaction. The other male wasted no time as he shifted Hinata’s head away from his shoulder and swooped down to kiss him again. Pale hands cupped Hinata’s face as its fingers caressed his cheeks. Meanwhile, Hinata laced his fingers with Komaeda’s hair locks. They stayed like that for a while before they reluctantly broke away for air.

“Hinata-kun.”

“Yes?” Hinata smiled as he stared back into Komaeda’s eyes. His partner’s green eyes looked back in an unwavering gaze. Komaeda never looked away and, if Hinata was to be honest, it was starting to make him feel nervous.

“What’s wrong?” Hinata asked as he directed his own gaze towards their feet. Komaeda’s feet suddenly moved and started shifting away. Hinata was about to look up and ask where he was going when he felt himself being pulled from his current spot.

“Komaeda?” Hinata asked as he decided to walk with the other boy. This whole day just felt like he was dragged around in Komaeda’s pace, but there was never any ill will in the action. Each time Komaeda did this, it ended in a pleasant surprise so Hinata didn’t feel too worried when Komaeda didn’t answer him.

Komaeda stopped in his tracks abruptly, causing Hinata to collide into the former’s back. And, before he knew it, he was caught up in Komaeda’s pace again. Komaeda fervently kissed Hinata as he walked backwards, leading Hinata into the bedroom with him.

Hinata broke away from the kiss first to address their clothes. “It’s too hot for this,” Hinata said as he started stripping off his coat. Glancing over towards his boyfriend, he could see that Komaeda had the same idea. Not knowing where to place his coat, Hinata decided to just let it lay on the floor for now. He sincerely doubted Komaeda cared whether or not he made a mess right now. Speaking of the albino, Hinata peeked over at Komaeda again only to laugh softly at his actions. In his haste, the artist must’ve gotten something caught in the zipper of his coat and now, Komaeda was trying to force the zipper down.

Laughing ever so lightly, as to not offend the other man, Hinata walked over and placed his hands over Komaeda’s to help him. Gently, he assisted Komaeda in freeing the man from his coat— slide the zipper up slowly… and then back down.

“There we go.” Hinata teased softly.

“Thanks,” Komaeda responded and kissed Hinata in return for the help. It didn’t take long for the kiss to get heated again. With Hinata’s coat out of the way, Komaeda started loosening the brunet’s tie. Once the tie’s loop was loose enough for Hinata’s head to slip out of, Komaeda broke apart momentarily to get rid of the tie. Hinata was just as aroused and started undoing Komaeda’s belt as he kissed back. The second Komaeda heard the buckle hit the floor, he pushed Hinata onto the bed and followed shortly after, plopping on the spot next to Hinata before continuing his assault on Hinata’s mouth.

The room was quiet aside from the pants and moans coming from the two of them and the occasional shifting of the sheets as they shed each other’s clothes off. When Komaeda suddenly halted his administrations, Hinata sent him a questioning glance.

“What’s wrong?” Hinata asked. Komaeda, who had been leaving hickeys along Hinata's neck, paused and looked up at Hinata. Did something happen? Did he do something wrong?

“Can you take off your contact lens?”

“Huh?” His contact lens? Well… He was fine with that request, it’s not like he had anything to hide... “Can you look away, then? ...It can be a bit gross— watching someone poke their eye out.”

He heard a laugh from Komaeda. “I don’t mind it.”

“Well, _I_ mind.” Hinata was already getting up and heading towards his bag that he left on the floor next to his jacket. Looking back at Komaeda, he could see the albino facing away, just like Hinata asked him to. Hinata quickly turned his attention back to his bag as he fished out his lens case. Hinata peered back again towards Komaeda, happy to see that he was still looking away and patiently waiting on the bed for Hinata.

Tilting his head up, Hinata hurriedly pinched the lens out and carefully placed it back into the case.

“Uhm, it’s fine now,” Hinata said as he made his way back to the bed and sat down next to Komaeda. “Thanks for waiting...” Hinata looked down and began fiddling with the ends of his shirt that untucked by Komaeda. In the end, whether or not the person seeing his deformity was alright with it or not, Hinata was still unused to the exposure.

As if reading his mind, Komaeda held Hinata’s face and angled it towards him so that their eyes met. “You don’t have to hide from me. I’m not like other people.”

“R-right,” Hinata managed to reply before Komaeda started kissing him again.

As long as Komaeda was fine with it.

* * *

As it turns out, it was a fait accompli when Komaeda suggested that they skipped school today. The moment Hinata decided to follow Komaeda into the bedroom, it was already decided that there was no way that the two of them could make it back to the academy in time by driving. The morning traffic going out the city was worse than the traffic of incoming cars.

Hinata sighed as he tore his gaze away from the window view. It was great that Komaeda’s apartment had a clear view of the bridge’s traffic from above, but it was almost depressing when he saw how slowly the cars were moving.

“Hinata-kun,” a groggy, but cheerful voice alerted Hinata of Komaeda’s presence. Not a second later, he felt his boyfriend’s arms circling around his waist and a mass of white hair tickling his neck.

“There’s no point in waking up this early. The traffic’s too heavy to head back,” Komaeda spoke directly into his ear and Hinata could feel a warmth surging up from the pits of his stomach as he held Komaeda’s arms over his stomach.

Hinata opened his mouth to respond. “Aren’t there f— Gyah!” Just before Hinata could ask about the ferries that were scheduled to carry people out of the city every morning, he felt a sharp pain in his ear where Komaeda decided to bite him.

“We can head out later when the traffic’s lighter.”

A familiar tongue flicked across Hinata’s ear and the brunet couldn’t suppress a shudder at the sensual greeting. Hinata leaned back, closer to Komaeda and turned his head around to brush lips with the man. There was a soft sigh from Komaeda before Hinata felt the arms around him tighten its hold, and pull him closer towards its owner. Komaeda kissed him again with more passion, parting his lips to let Hinata’s tongue explore the cavern of his mouth. Komaeda’s own tongue sucked on the intruding muscle as he swallowed every gasp and moan of his name before taking his turn to plunge into Hinata’s mouth.

“Let’s go—”

“—get breakfast,” Hinata cut Komaeda off.

“Huh?” Komaeda couldn’t mask his surprise at Hinata’s sudden suggestion.

“I’m not going to make it to my classes today, but I still have work in the afternoon.” There was a slight pause as Hinata waited for Komaeda to let go so he could put on the rest of his clothes. When it became evident that Komaeda was not going to let go, Hinata sighed.

“Besides,” Hinata continued to reason with Komaeda. “I wasn’t even halfway done with my food last night before you dragged us back here. I’m starving, and I bet you are, too.”

At the mention of food, Komaeda’s stomach growled, leaving no room for objection. Komaeda let out a dramatic sigh and grudgingly conceded with Hinata’s plan to eat.

“Fine.” Komaeda let go of Hinata and headed back into one of the rooms. “I’ll go get us something to eat, you stay here.”

“I want to come along.” Hinata trailed after Komaeda, following the other into a walk-in closet. The latter only stared at Hinata before breaking into a sympathetic smile as if saying ‘ _I know something you don’t._ ’

“What?” Hinata asked when he saw that smile. It pissed him off a bit that Komaeda was looking at him like that and he wanted to know why. Instead of answering the question, Komaeda finished dressing up and walked over to Hinata.

“I know the neighbourhood better than you, so it’ll be quick,” Komaeda said and placed a chaste kiss on Hinata’s cheek before grabbing a coat from the rack. “Why don’t you take a shower while you wait? There are clean towels in the bottom dresser in the bedroom and extra toiletries in the bathroom.”

Hinata pouted when heard the explanation. He wasn’t a kid that that would get lost following a stray cat or something...

“Fine,” Hinata agreed. “The food better be good, then,” he added before walking towards the door to see Komaeda off.

“Of course! I’ll be back, then.”

Hinata only nodded to Komaeda as he shut the door behind him.

_‘Now, then..._ ’

He should probably take a shower like Komaeda suggested. Heading back into the bedroom, Hinata quickly located the dresser that Komaeda was talking about. The brunet kept his sight on the ground as he tentatively stepped over the clothes that were strewn across the floor from their activities from last night. Clothes weren’t the only things that were littered on the carpet. He could see his phone on the floor next to his coat, where it probably fell out when he dropped his coat. Hinata picked it up and placed it back into the coat pocket immediately before he forgot. If possible, he didn’t want a repeat of what happened the last time he spent a night with Komaeda.

In front of the dresser was a set of keys laying on the floor. It looked like a pair of house keys and a car key, along with some other ones that Hinata couldn’t identify. Probably Komaeda’s. Hinata picked it up and placed it on the nightstand next to the dresser. What _would_ be really bad was if Komaeda left these behind. Hinata sighed when he realised that the artist already _did_ leave his keys behind.

Did they really make this much of a mess? Then again, it wasn’t like they actually cared about not making a mess last night, either. Hinata decided not to think about it any longer before his face gets permanently dyed red from embarrassment.

Hinata grabbed a towel and found the bathroom with ease. When his eyes met his reflection on the mirror, his face instantly paled. He didn’t have to worry about his face being dyed red permanently because his reflection would’ve instantly bleached it back and more. It took another second for Hinata to realise that this was probably what that bastard of a boyfriend was smirking about earlier.

If he’d gone out to buy breakfast with Komaeda like he originally insisted, then he’ll just be mortified if someone pointed out the hickeys along his neck. And Komaeda wasn’t being subtle with them last night, either. No, he other man decided to leave them on places where he obviously couldn’t hide with just his shirt collar.

He had work today, damn it. And he didn’t dare show up with such noticeable love bites. Angry and frustrated, Hinata briskly took off the rest of his clothes and stepped into the glass shower box. He sighed, knowing that being angry wasn’t really a solution to the problem. Maybe he could just wear a scarf again. It would be a little weird to wear a scarf with his formal museum uniform, but it would be weirder to just display the hickeys. Hinata continued his musings as the water rained down on him, calming him along the process.

As much as he’ll like to call in absent today at work, he knew he couldn’t. It wasn’t as if money grew on trees and he already took some time off during the week of his midterms. He wondered if Nanami carried around any makeup that could help. He knew she _at least_ carried a stick of concealer everyday for the bags under her eyes, so maybe she could help—

“Hinata-kun?”

Hinata could hear Komaeda shouting by the entrance to announce his arrival before shutting the door. There was a loud thumping around the apartment as if Komaeda was scurrying to find something. Probably his keys? But if he got in without his keys, that also meant that he didn’t need the keys that he left behind.

Turning off the shower, he quickly dried himself and put on his clothes to meet Komaeda, who he could hear was still frantically walking around.

“Hinata-kun?” The voice was closer now, and it sounded like it came from down the hall where the master bedroom was. Hinata decided to answer Komaeda and finally stepped out to the hall.

“If you’re looking for your keys, I put them on the nightstand,” Hinata told Komaeda at the doorway. He was still drying his hair, so he couldn’t see the other man, but judging from his voice, Komaeda should still be in this room.

“My… Keys?” Hinata could hear the hesitance in Komaeda’s voice. Was he wrong? Was there something else that Komaeda was searching for?

“Mn.” Hinata finished rubbing out the droplets of water out of his hair before looking up and walking over to the nightstand. He held up the keys and jangled them in front of Komaeda. “Here, they were on the floor. Ah— unless you were looking for something else…?”

Maybe Hinata overstepped his boundaries for assuming. Jingling the keys again, Hinata waited for an answer from the albino in the room.

“Komae—?”

* * *

Before Hinata could speak another syllable, Komaeda embraced the brunet with so much vigour, it seemed desperate.

Komaeda snuggled closer to Hinata as the brunet gingerly hugged him back while patting his head in confusion. Komaeda settled down as he breathed in Hinata’s scent which was mixed with the soap and shampoo from his bathroom.

This whole time, Komaeda was looking for Hinata and the bathroom was the last place that he would’ve thought to check. So, that meant that Hinata took his advice to take a shower while he got them breakfast… It must’ve been due to his panic that he forgot.

Komaeda took in another deep breath. It served as a reminder that Hinata was here.

_He didn’t leave him_.

> When Komaeda reached into his pocket to pay for his take out, he found something missing from his pockets. _His keys._ If his keys weren't in his pockets, then that meant they were back at the apartment. He had fallen into a frenzy as he paid an overpriced and unnecessary tip to the cashier before he dashed out the doors of the family diner.

He was so sure that Hinata was going to leave first. He knew how important the classes were to the other boy. Komaeda was almost convinced that Hinata would borrow his car keys to zip out of the city via the tunnel route.

But, he didn't. Despite the fact that Hinata knew he had access to the keys, the brunet didn't bother to leave the apartment without him. No, instead, Hinata chose to take his suggestion and stay here. And wait. _For him_.

Personally, Komaeda thought it was ridiculous to take his advice on anything, but he was glad that Hinata did.

“Is... Everything alright?” Hinata hesitated to ask, seeing Komaeda's worrisome state. The boy was hugging him so tightly that he was practically trembling.

“Yes,” Komaeda breathed out softly. It was another five seconds before he let go of Hinata. He could still see the worried face on the brunet and decided to give a reassuring smile before speaking again.

“Are you hungry? I left the food on the kitchen counter.”

Hinata wasn't sure what to think about Komaeda's obvious topic diversion, but followed the other to the kitchen anyways. He was starving and figured he could maybe bring up the topic again to get Komaeda talking.

* * *

As they ate, Hinata found it very difficult to bring up the topic again. It wasn't as if Komaeda was chatting away about something again— No, it would be easier to levee the conversation to a topic he wanted to discuss if that was the case.

Rather unexpectedly, Komaeda insisted on feeding Hinata every bite. While Hinata had definitely voiced out his discomfort at it a few times, Komaeda continued his ministrations as if he hadn't heard him.

Hinata felt a little miffed at the blatant disregard that Komaeda was showing, but let it go when he saw the goofy smile glued onto the alabaster face as Hinata let other male shove a spoonful of rice into his mouth. Whatever it was that made Komaeda that way... It probably isn't a big deal anymore since Komaeda looks to have calmed down already. The man seemed to have flipped his mood 180 degrees and there were no traces of his earlier breakdown at all.

Hinata wondered fleetingly if perhaps that that sudden change should be more concerning, but he had little to no experience in the field of mental health.

Realising that Komaeda had yet to touch his own food, Hinata wordlessly picked up the other plastic spoon and began feeding Komaeda as well. If he had to sit through this embarrassing situation, then he wasn't going to experience it alone. Whether or not they were in public or in between the private walls of Komaeda's apartment, there was something humiliating about two grown men literally spoon-feeding each other.

Although Hinata had the decency to be ashamed, Komaeda didn't seem to have those thoughts at all. The latter continued to feed Hinata and wipe away any crumbs that Komaeda deliberately left on his face and licking away any sauce that spilled at the corners of Hinata's mouth. Hinata sighed internally at this. He'd known for some time now that while Komaeda could act like a nice guy, he lacked any modesty towards things like the social norm.

But Hinata didn't mind too much, in truth. If Komaeda had common sense, then he wouldn't be with Hinata.

* * *

“Ugh. Y-eah, I won’t be able to come today. Mhm. Yeah. Probably j-just some bad sushi… I’ll see you on Thursday, Kizakura-san.”

A dull voice advising Hinata not to eat sushi on Mondays could be heard before the click of a phone receiver resounded, indicating the end of the call.

“Kizakura? You know, if you let me tell him that we’re banging, I could probably argue a paid vacation day for you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Hinata shouted in embarrassment. “Like I could even show my face there if you said that!”

Komaeda laughed and gently enveloped his arms around Hinata's torso. Kissing the nape of Hinata's neck, Komaeda decided that there was still time for them before they had to head out to beat the traffic since Hinata was able to call in a sick day.

“Want to start heading out now?” Hinata gestured towards the freeway at his window. The cars ran pretty smoothly and it seemed ideal to leave now.

“Do you want to leave later?” Komaeda refused to let go of Hinata and was holding him tighter in his arms now. “We have all day, now that you cancelled work… We can walk around the city or just stay here and watch T.V. if you want.”

In all honesty, a day off sounded pretty good to Hinata. It should be fine if they left later in the evening…

“Or, we could go all the way today.” The way Komaeda spoke directly into his ear sent chills down Hinata’s spine as he involuntarily shuddered.

“That’s… probably not a good idea,” Hinata responded. Both of them had their own obligations tomorrow and it would do neither of them any good if they got too caught up.

“Even though you love me?”

Hinata’s cheeks tinted pink when Komaeda brought up the topic from last night.

“…Yes.”

“Hinata-kun, I love you, too.”

“W-what?”

Hinata was still in shock from what Komaeda suddenly said as he stood motionlessly while Komaeda kissed him.

“Let me show you how much you mean to me.”

Hinata didn’t know when or how, but he was pulled into Komaeda’s pace again as he kissed him back.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get us back before your first class tomorrow.”

“Promise?” Hinata didn’t actually care too much about the details at the moment, but he found himself saying it just to say it.

“I promise.”

* * *

In the end, the fact that they ended up oversleeping along with the tedious process of dragging Hinata’s ass out of bed, they were only able to make it to Hinata’s second class of the day. Luckily for Komaeda, he started in the afternoon on Wednesdays so it didn’t affect him.

Hinata on the other hand, had to worry about catching up to all the work he missed yesterday along with today’s morning class.

Hinata groaned as he spread his arms out on the library table in front of him. His hands were already numb from copying the missing notes he borrowed. He shouldn’t complain, but some of these notes looked like they were written with feet instead of hands. Deciphering some of the chicken scratch was near impossible as he squinted at the writing. Most of the time, Hinata just ended up sighing and taking a picture of the note page and hopefully get to ask his classmates about it the next time.

“Ah, is that Hinata-san?”

At the sound of his name being called, Hinata looked around for the source of it. To left of him, he spotted a short boy who could almost be mistaken for a girl, had Hinata not known better.

“Uhm… Fuji…Saki-san?” Hinata struggled to remember the boy’s name. They’d only formally met once despite Nanami always mentioning his name in her stories.

The boy nodded as he made his way over towards the empty seat across from Hinata.

“Is everything alright?”

Hinata’s eyebrows arched up for a second before recovering from the shock and sitting up straight before replying to the odd question.

“Yeah, just a little tired.”

Fujisaki studied him for a bit before speaking again.

“Is that all?”

“Mhm.” Hinata was slightly confused about the other’s concern, but didn’t think much of it. “And you? I heard your professor for C was really hard on your guys for your midterm project. Nanami wouldn’t get out of bed after that, even for games”

They shared a laugh, knowing that it was highly improbable that she’d stop gaming unless she was really tired.

“Yeah, the professor really did ask for a lot.” Fujisaki looked over and marked the state of the table they were on. “Are you still studying for some exams, or…?”

“Ah, no, I’m done with mine, too. These are just some notes I missed yesterday.”

“Speaking of yesterday, Chiaki said she hasn’t seen you at all since Monday.” Fujisaki paused for a bit and looked over at Hinata. “I think she was really worried. You guys aren’t in a fight or anything, right?”

“Huh? Nanami was?” Thinking about it now, it probably alerted Nanami when he didn’t come back on Monday. They did promise to play another game once they were done with exam week… Hinata suddenly felt like an ass for forgetting.

“Hinata-san?”

“Oh, sorry I was just thinking. We’re not fighting or anything. I’ll probably be seeing her at home, later.

“That’s great.” Fujisaki got up as he collected his stuff. “I’ll get out of your way now, good luck on your notes.”

Hinata nodded back before looking down at the notes again. Nanami was worried? Maybe he should text her before heading back just to check if she really _was_ mad about him ditching their game night.

Hinata was able to decipher a few more pages before he heard his phone buzz with a response from Nanami.

* * *

 

**Nanami Chiaki**

5:37 PM

I just met Fujisaki-san at the library...

Are you mad I forgot about our game night?

6:10 PM

Sorry… I just got off my shift.

I’m not mad, just worried. Kizakura-san  
told me you had food poisoning? I told him  
you were throwing up in our apartment  
bathroom, but…

Thanks for covering for me…  
But did you have to go and say that?

You’re welcome. You can buy me a cake from  
that shop

Sure? Shop?

That one…

The one that always came with the really  
pretty pink box...

That’s not from a shop…  
They’re from a classmate of mine.

They look so professional though. That’s amazing.

Yeah. I’m still on campus so I can walk over  
to her dorm house and see if she has anything  
whipped up if you want.

? Would she? Just have?

Always.

Okay, I’ll set up the controllers in the living room.

* * *

 

**Andou Ruruka**

Do you need a taste tester again?

Who are you? Hina-chan would never do it.

I do it all the time.

Besides, I’m asking because my roommate  
wants to eat one of your cakes.

What??? You never told Ruruka you had a  
roommate

And they’re a fan of Ruruka's cakes??

Yeah.

She’s the one who usually ends up finishing  
the samples you give me.

Wait, so you don’t eat them?

That’s fucking rude, Hinata.

There’s never enough for two people.

So, do you need a taste tester?

Ruruka is actually with Yoi-chan doing just  
that at the moment

But why don’t you come over?

There are some rejected ones here that   
you guys can have.

Rejected?

Don’t worry, they still taste amazing

Ruruka made them after all

* * *

Hinata really wondered if it was worth it to come over. Before Andou agreed to hand over the sweets, she had him praise her work through Nanami’s words.

“So? What does she say about Ruruka's food? How does she eat it? Small bites? Or does she just gobble it up ‘cuz they’re just so good?!”

The moment he came over, Andou had been squealing with questions and forcing Hinata to answer them, or else she’ll just keep asking.

“I don’t know? She said it’s good? Professional? Here,” Hinata took out his phone and sent a quick message to Nanami. “Just talk to her yourself.” Hinata gave up and passed her his phone.

Hinata sighed and leaned back onto the couch of the common room.

“Thanks for telling her.”

“Huh?” Hinata looked over at Izayoi who sat motionlessly on the armchair adjacent from him. The blonde smiled fondly at Andou as she texted Nanami excitedly.

“She really likes it when people tell her they like her food.”

“But, don’t a lot of people tell her that? Since they are pretty good…”

Izayoi shook his head. “They actually used to be pretty bad, so people would mostly just smile and pat her head to pander her. Even when she’s as good as she is now, people would brush it off and compliment her sweets half-heartedly…

“I’m the only one who tells her it’s good these days, since Seiko still gets allergic reactions due to her medicine. But, at least she’s not spitting out blood anymore.”

“B-Blood?”

Izayoi nodded. “It was an accident and since then they’ve been analysing which ingredients are okay with the medicine.”

No, Hinata thought. Normally, people would just stop feeding their friend candy. But it wasn’t as if the three of them were normal. They were an odd bunch— with Andou’s loud personality contrasted with Kimura’s meek one and Izayoi’s impassive nature, it really was a mystery.

What’s more, Hinata noticed that this was the first time he heard the aloof Izayoi speak so much. The aforementioned man had kept his gaze trained on the pink lady—who was smearing cream all over his phone— all throughout his little speech.

Looking at them, Hinata got the feeling of how in love Izayoi was.

“Do people really like it when their works are being praised?” Hinata half-muttered it and half-directed the question towards Izayoi.

“… I don’t think it has to be praise as long as it’s genuine.”

“I see…” Thinking back to his first encounter with Komaeda, he wondered if what he had said really made Komaeda that happy. He hadn’t even known it was painted by Komaeda at that time.

“Hina-chan, Ruruka's done!” Andou walked over to him and handed his phone back. Hinata eyed the sticky substance smothering his phone and looked at Andou who grinned back, completely unaware of the mess on his phone. “Ruruka already figured what kind of cake she’ll like best! Isn't that amazing?”

“Yeah… Thanks,” Hinata said as he slowly retrieved his phone. It smelled like sugar and it stuck to his fingers like glue. Looking at the screen, he could clearly see Andou’s fingerprints all over it and sighed before noticing something strange. Or maybe it was more accurate to say that he noticed something that wasn’t there.

“There’s nothing. I thought you were texting Nanami?” On the screen was the last message he received from his roommate with no signs of Nanami and Andou talking.

“Well, duh. The chat history's deleted.”

“Why, though?”

“Stupid, a chat between girls is _always_ private.”

Private? What’s private is his phone. Well, whatever it was, if he got really curious he could just ask Nanami or check her phone. It’s not like they don’t know each other’s passcodes... ironically…

“Fine, can I get a wet paper towel for this?” Hinata waved the sticky touchscreen in front of her, making Andou huff in response.

“There’s a roll of them by the sink, help yourself. Ruruka's gonna to go pack Nana-chan a good one!”

“Ugh,” Hinata let out a sound of dismay as he rubbed the sugar off. He wondered if his phone will ever be the same again.

“Here you go,” Andou came back with a box larger than he was used to. “I did you a huge favour, by the way. You better thank me.”

“Oh. Sure? Thanks to you we’ll have a nice snack while we scream at games?” Was it that big of a favour?

Andou didn’t say anything and only lightly frowned at Hinata’s tactless gratitude.

“Well, whatever. You’ll thank me later when you find out, I guess.”

“You’re freaking me out. What did you do?”

Andou sighed and waved her hand in dismissal. “Ruruka went out of her way to gave you a better life, that’s what. Here,” she pushed the box into Hinata’s hands. “Don’t crush it.”

“Alright… Thanks.” Hinata waved to the two of them before leaving. Checking his phone, that was thankfully cleaner, it read 6:22. He could probably get home around 6:35. They lived farther from the museum than the academy, he wondered if Nanami was even home yet. Since it was about a thirty to forty minute ride from the museum to Jabberwock, plus a ten minute walk to the apartment, he was probably going to be the one to set up the consoles.

* * *

Arriving at their apartment, Hinata found that he was indeed right when he saw that Nanami’s outdoor shoes weren’t by the door, instead, her indoor slippers were still there meaning she hadn’t come home yet. Hinata sluggishly kicked off his shoes and found his own slippers before placing the cake on the coffee table. Checking the games they stored in the rack under the T.V. he wondered which game Nanami wanted to play.

Hinata chuckled to himself when he saw that the games were out of order again. He’d only been gone for a day, but Nanami already messed up the ordering system that she had came up with herself. She always did have a habit of aimlessly stuffing a game back when she’s too tired to care.

But, looking at the current arrangement of the games made it easier for Hinata to figure out what kind of game Nanami would want to play. Since Nanami wanted to play with him, it had to be at least a two player game and judging by the games that were jumbled up, the best guess would probably be—

Hinata never got to finish his thought since his doorbell rang suddenly and right after that, consecutive knocks were pounding on the door. That... Couldn’t be Nanami. Even if she forgot her keys. Another ring forced Hinata to snap out of it and answer the door. When he was almost to the door, the aggressive knocking stopped before he heard someone pacing outside his door. Whoever it was, the person seemed... Anxious?

Curiously, Hinata opened the door to find a familiar face. The man was biting his thumbnail as he waited by the door.

“Komaeda?”

Reflexively, the albino looked up from the floor to meet Hinata’s eyes and Hinata could almost swear he saw a sense of relief radiating from those eyes. As Hinata waited for Komaeda to speak, he stepped aside and wordlessly invited Komaeda in.

“What brings you here?” Hinata asked when Komaeda wouldn’t speak.

“You weren’t answering my texts or calls, so I thought something happened...” Komaeda glanced over at Hinata. “But, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

Calls? Texts? Hinata checked his phone. The only unread message was Nanami telling him that she was walking from the station.

Komaeda continued. “I figured it was probably because you were underground and there was no signal or something since it jumps to voicemail the moment I call, but it was strange that you would be without signal for so long.”

“Komaeda... What are you talking about? I don’t have any messages from you.”

Komaeda looked back with a face just as confused as Hinata’s.

“I called you six times.”

Six times? Hinata shook his head. Leaving the weird number aside, he didn’t receive them. Showing Komaeda his call log to prove it was a bad idea. Once Komaeda saw it, he gave Hinata one glance and threw the phone on the floor. Hinata could see the furious look Komaeda directed towards him and he could feel himself inching back, away from Komaeda before a hand caught his forearm, rooting him where he stood.

“Komae-?”

“I thought it was weird. Even if you didn’t have signal, the moment you get reception, you’ll receive a bunch of missed calls and messages from me, but it’s not even in your call log.”

At this point, Hinata felt more terrified of Komaeda than he’d ever had. Or maybe that was unfair to say, since he’d _never_ actually felt like Komaeda was a person to be feared. But, seeing his face contorted in anger like it is now, Hinata could feel goosebumps up his arms as he stared back at Komaeda.

“What’s more...my number is listed as Unknown in the past calls... Even I would be able to figure out what happened... But for you to just shove that in my face like I wouldn’t be able to put two and two together...Why did you delete and block my number?”

Hinata frowned back at Komaeda’s accusation. Other than fear, Hinata was also slightly annoyed and taken back by Komaeda’s attitude.

“What are you saying? Of course, I didn’t. Why would—”

“Hinata-kun, you didn’t close... the door...” A softer voice interjected the diatribe of words that Hinata was about to yell out. Looking towards the source of the voice, he found Nanami standing awkwardly at the doorway as she looked at the two of them blocking the way in.

“Hey... Will you let go of Hinata-kun?” Nanami stared blankly at Komaeda with a finger pointing at the hand that was grabbing his arm. “It... looks like it hurts.”

At the mention of harming Hinata, Komaeda reluctantly let go.

“Well then, I’m going to buy dinner from market by the station... I’ll be back in twenty minutes.” Nanami eyed Komaeda one last time before stepping out of the apartment again to give them space.

Neither of them moved for a while before Hinata broke the trance and walked over to where Komaeda dropped his phone. Hinata unlocked it and fiddled around with the buttons to check its status and concluded that it was probably, most likely, not broken. Just a little dented from the fall.

“Komaeda, I have no reason to block you.” Hinata decided to initiate the conversation, seeing as Komaeda wasn’t going to. Nanami only gave them twenty minutes and they’ve already used up five just sitting around.

“Are you telling me that you didn’t, then?” As if to demonstrate, Komaeda took out his phone and texted Hinata. In the process, Hinata could see the wall of messages that Komaeda had claimed to have sent before.

A few seconds passed before they both agreed that the text that Komaeda just sent was never going to be received.

“Well...” Just to make sure, Hinata decided to check his blocked list. There should be no numbers on there— Except that there was. Looking over at Komaeda who was also staring at Hinata’s screen with a frown, Hinata was almost scared to ask.

“Is this your number?”

There was a painful silence before Komaeda responded with a cutthroat “Yes.”

Hinata looked away in shame as he realised this was his fault.

“I’m sorry,” Hinata started. “I don’t know how...” Hinata trailed off.

He knew how.

“Can I see the messages you sent me?”

Komaeda raised an eyebrow but relented nonetheless. Scrolling up, Hinata could see all the messages that barely contained Komaeda’s worry for him and he could feel a blush rising as he read a few of them. He had to brush it off, though. He was looking for something else...

6:18

If Komaeda started texting him at that time, then Andou had his phone so... It was possible. It wasn’t really a secret that Andou did, very much, dislike Komaeda.

Now, he knew what happened, most likely. But explaining it would be difficult. It wasn’t really a situation someone would believe so easily, after all. ‘Just a prank, bro,’ was probably the worst excuse out there.

“Uhm, so I know it might be hard to believe, but it really wasn’t me...”

Komaeda only waited patiently for Hinata as he stuttered to explain. He bit his lip as he thought about how to word it.

“I sorta lent my phone to a friend and I guess they thought it would be funny if they pulled this kind of prank,” Glancing over at Komaeda, he could still see the unamused look on Komaeda’s facial expressions. But instead of sitting like a statue as he had been while listening to Hinata’s excuse, Komaeda borrowed Hinata’s phone and began tapping on it. Komaeda took it upon himself to delete himself from the list of blocked numbers and reenter his contact information for Hinata.

“Which friend?” Komaeda finally spoke.

Hinata wondered for a while if it was a good idea to tell him. Telling him was a bad idea, but not telling him was definitely a bad idea, too.

“Andou-san.”

Hinata was met with another frown from Komaeda when he mentioned her name. But, instead of anger, Komaeda had an air of understanding around him as if a puzzle was solved.

“Are you good friends with her?”

“No, I just met her this semester in chem...”

“Well, if this is what she does out of prejudice, I don’t think you should be around her too much... She doesn’t seem like a really nice person, anyways.”

“Well, I don’t think she meant much by it...” That wasn’t true, he was pretty sure Andou meant all the ill will in the world when she pulled this stunt.

“I don’t mean to completely cut all ties with her, but... maybe you should be around her less?”

“She really isn’t that bad of a person, I think—”

“Please? I really love you and I want you to be safe even when I’m not around.”

He loved him so he wanted him to be safe? Hinata blushed at Komaeda’s claim. He could feel himself grinning beyond his control. Voice lost, Hinata took his phone back from Komaeda and nodded.

“...I can’t make any specific promises since I can’t control what the professors have in store for us, but I’ll keep that in mind...”

Komaeda wasn’t completely satisfied with it, but it was probably as close as he’ll get. The artist smiled back and kissed Hinata’s forehead, effectively erasing any prior negative feelings Hinata had for him.

Hinata leaned back up and pecked Komaeda’s lips. Komaeda reciprocated the motion and it felt like the two of them returned to the time when neither of them had any worries.

“If something like this happens again, don’t freak out, okay?” Hinata lightly teased Komaeda as they broke away slowly.

“I can’t help it. When I think that I’ll lose you...”

When Hinata thought of it like that, he wasn’t sure if he would keep his cool, either. Komaeda was everything he truly had left. Friends come, but and go when they find something unsatisfactory about you. However, Komaeda was like a pillar that stayed unmoved. It was something Hinata appreciated very much.

Hinata wondered if he could be that for Komaeda as well. Looking at his boyfriend’s pale face, white hair and faded green eyes, he noticed that everything about this man was like a ghost— from the way he slipped into his life, to the way he could just as suddenly leave— he was sure Komaeda was mad enough to leave just minutes ago. Conversely, he was also the pillar that supported him. Maybe it wasn’t good to place all his confidence in one person, but that made Hinata even more eager to keep Komaeda by his side.

“Me too.” He couldn’t leave. “I love you.”

* * *

**Regret / Vernis**

* * *

 

From time to time, Nanami would think about the way her best friend had become so reclusive.

It wasn’t as if Hinata had locked himself in a room and refused to come out literally, but he seemed to have blocked everyone else out emotionally. He smiled but Nanami could tell the difference between the ones he gave now and the ones he used to show when they sat in the living room of their old shared flat playing nonsensible video games. Some good, some bad. But, Hinata still laughed heartily with her.

Hinata’s smiles weren’t offensive or anything. Rather, they were actually a fair, pleasing smile. But, even so, Nanami still felt something was off.

He still attended most of the social gatherings hosted by their friends, but he was also the first to leave more than half the time. There was one time when Nanami caught him meeting up with his boyfriend and… He looked surprisingly fine. There were no empty smiles exchanged between them. While it wasn’t empty, maybe it wasn’t right to say that he was fine. She had seen a flash of worry across his face before showing a real smile.

She knew it wasn’t right to cast a bias on Komaeda when she hardly knew the man, but she felt a small amount of animosity for stealing her best friend away. It had started with borrowing him for one night, then it turned to whisking him away for two days, and within another two months, Hinata told her that he was going to move in with Komaeda. She never even got to make sure he was alright with his father’s sudden invitation to his wedding ceremony that came in the mail shortly before he moved out. She could only hope that Komaeda was there for him. Even though from what she saw those nights when he came over… He didn’t seem like the sanest person out there… She had heard some whispered stories about him from people who were in the same year as him in high school and maybe those rumours made her a little prejudice in viewing him. After all, Hinata was still with him and claims to love him, so maybe she shouldn’t carry on with viewing him as the villain who stole her best friend.

She just hopes Hinata is happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i fucking hate this too
> 
> * * *
> 
> PSA: okay, as weird as it might be to see this in a fanfiction, I feel like this needs to be addressed. If you or anyone you know is in a codependent relationship, please take a step back, think about it, and maybe get an outside opinion about it. Because, sometimes, it's hard to see things in perspective when you're the one experiencing it. Everything you see might be in rose-coloured glasses and you would never know. Hinata himself got a chance to see Izayoi's pure love for Ruruka, but Hinata never made the connection that maybe there was something a little off with his relationship with Komaeda. Call it luck if you may that the timing wasn't present for him to think further about it.  
> What I wrote isn't quite a codependent relationship; while both Hinata and Komaeda are guilty of portraying a few those traits, things were exaggerated a bit for Komaeda's mental state. So, it mostly just sounds like a precarious relationship between them  
> Also, if you were expecting something more dark, like a yandere komaeda murdering people, then, im sry. If you clicked on here seeing the M rating & was expecting the sex, im sorry too. I'm keeping it M because I don't want smol children reading this and thinking this how romantic love is.
> 
> * * *
> 
> wow this is a rly long end note. Mainly because I have quite some regrets with this one. There were so many things I wanted to write for this, but like... this is like 24k words already... And this one really really needed to update already. So long as this fic wasn't finished, I couldn't start another one. I'm sorry if the ending might've felt a ~~little~~ very rushed.
> 
> Lastly, thank you for everyone who gave me support writing this during the lasst 5 months. I must've sounded like a whining baby about everything. sorry. thanks. i'll write a happier version of this au.... some time int he future
> 
> * * *
> 
> **Vernis does not mean regret.** In fact, it's French for 'Varnish,' which is the coating you put on an oil painting when it's done so you get that finished product. It's French to keep the chapter title themes. _Clair-obscur_ is what the French call chiaroscuro. But, this is also a theme adopted into filming and photography medias. It's not writing but? ? close? ?  
>  Anyways. I hope you all enjoyed it despite its shortcomings & misdeeds.

**Author's Note:**

> edit Nov. 14 2017: heyyyyy so if you wanna leave a comment/thought about this, but don't know what to write, lemme know how you found this fic. I'm v curious since I thought most fics just fade away after being buried under all the other great fics that come out daily, so how are ppl finding this mess of a work? 


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